Skip to main content



Rating: 3.4/5
Review: "Dracula Untold movie review"

It is one of the Universal Monsters reboots. And I am not impressed yet. The re-imagining of Dracula of turning him into a sort of anti-hero sounds promising but the movie is too short to suck the audience's attention. With the short runtime of 1 hour 32 minutes (plus credits), there is little things to do. Everything seems rushed to meet the time. The development of Dracula is rushed. What you will be watching is a generic medieval war movie that just happens to have vampires and bats.

The story: It is a seriously straight-forward plot given the short runtime. Vlad (played by Luke Evans) faces troubles and dilemma of protecting his family and people and turns into the titular monster. Surprisingly the movie starts out slow, there are no big battles. The first twenty minutes puts Vlad in a realistic problem of saving his family and people. When they are threatened, he turns to an mysterious sorcerer for a way out. As he becomes a superhuman, he has to fight the urge of human blood. It leads to what we all know, Dracula. The story is like any other war movies but with a dash of vampires. There are only a few action scenes. Though they are decently choreographed, the disappointing thing is that Vlad's real strength is not properly realised in any of those action scenes. Sure, there may be some great CGI of bats swarming around but that's all. For a big budget movie, it is flat out disappointing. Acting is passable. Luke Evan is so-so. Dominic Cooper is in a wasted role who does not appear many times. Music wise is okay, sounds generic.

Overall: With a big budget, I was disappointed at how the movie turns out to be. It seems that first time director Gary Shore has a visionary idea about the whole thing but it is not fully realised here. Instead it turns out to be an ordinary action flick. Vlad has a lot of potential to develop and show but it is not justified by the rushed runtime and tepid action scenes. If this becomes a franchise, I hope the future sequels will turn out better.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rating: 3.5/5 Review: Taken DVD review Taken is a new action movie that makes the audiences want more hard and gritty action flicks. I can see that now. Taken has the drama (Yawn!) and the realistic action (Like the Borne movies). Clocking at only 1 and a half hour, the movie starts off slow with drama. After half and hour pass, it goes straight to the intensity and non-stop realistic action. I don't like the slow start. As it is only 1 and a half hour, it do not have the time for slow characters' development. It should drive straight to the action, unless it clocks around 2 hours. The story: It seems to be the usual kidnapping movies where the bad guys kidnap some random girl/boy and ask for ransom. But in this, they kidnap young women to become sex-slaves. A father of a kidnapped daughter is enraged and goes to Paris where his daughter is. "I will find you! I will kill you!" He says to the bad guys. He starts punching and kicking people to hell. He kicks men's b...
Post a Comment
Read more
Rating: 3.5/5 Review: "From Vegas To Macau 2 movie review" "Loads of fun in Wong Jing's bigger sequel." Wong Jing is back with more madness, action, explosion and a longer runtime. As every sequel tries to top its original in every way, From Vegas To Macau 2 is no different. Lots of explosion, lots of wacky humour and more CGI, if these are your entertainment, the movie will do you no wrong. From the opening gun fight to the CGI climax, the story is kept brisk to keep your attention in check. The story: Chow Yun-fat is back as the titular gambler, Ken, with the magic hand. This time, the movie exaggerates his skills with CGI poker cards until it almost becomes a fantasy. But that's to be expected in a Wong Jing's movie. This time, the location is shifted to Thailand where Mark (Nick Cheung), an accountant in a money-laundering syndicate, DOA, is chased by Interpol and DOA. Ken has to save him and help his protege, Vincent (Shawn Yue). Wong Ji...
2 comments
Read more
Rating: 3.6/5 Review: "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D season 2 TV review" Season 2 has improved greatly. Starting straight from the massive cliffhanger in season 1, season 2 is more tense, action-packed, darker and better paced. I think season 1 took its time to introduce its characters before diving into the action. The time is spread out to individual characters' development. More twists and turns make the season a stark improvement. Episode 1-22: Skye has discovered her powers and is learning how to cope with it. Meanwhile, the team has its problems. Coulson seems to be hiding secrets. In fact, everybody has secrets. More powers are unleashed. It is a little surprising that Marvel is bold enough to veer the series to a darker tone by amping up the number of deaths and more violence. The whole season has little humour and moves at a brisk pace without really pausing. As the tension between human and superhuman increases by each episode, it is an exciting season that w...
1 comment
Read more