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Review
Archives
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Today's
Date is:
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Dracula
2000
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Reviewed
by: |
David
Litton |
| Genre: |
Horror |
| Video: |
2.35:1 widescreen |
| Audio: |
Dolby
Digital 5.1 |
| Language: |
English,
French |
| Subtitle: |
English,
Spanish |
| Length: |
1
hr, 31 min |
| Rating: |
R |
| Release
Date: |
4/3/01 |
| Studio: |
Dimension
Films |
| Commentary:
|
Director
Patrick Lussier and screenwriter/producer Joel Soisson |
| Documentaries:
|
None |
| Featurettes:
|
one
featurette |
| Filmography/Biography:
|
None |
|
Interviews: |
None |
| Trailers/TV
Spots: |
Yes |
| Alternate/Deleted
Scenes: |
deleted
scenes and extended takes |
| Music
Video: |
None |
| Other:
|
storyboards,
audition footage |
| Cast
and Crew: |
Jonny Lee
Miller, Christopher Plummer, Justine Waddell, Omar Epps, Jennifer
Esposito |
| Screenplay
by: |
Written by:
Joel Soisson |
| Produced
by: |
W.K. Border, Joel Soisson |
| Directed
By: |
Patrick Lussier |
| Music: |
Marco Beltrami |
| The
Review: |
A modern-day
gothic bloodlust comes to the screen in "Dracula 2000," a movie
that has some good ideas but can't seem to put them in the proper
place. It has everything you'd expect from a movie about the
infamous legend, including a well-suited cast that fits the
story, which has its ups and downs. The modernization of the
story has aspects that are appealing and appalling, and while
I liked the movie, there are a number of things I didn't care
for. Beginning with fantastically foreboding shots of the Demeter,
the ship that carried Dracula to England in Bram Stoker's novel,
the story immediately segues to the year 2000, in London, where
Matthew Van Helsing (Christopher Plummer), a collector and dealer
of antiques, is hiding something in a large, heavily guarded
vault at his place of business. Not so heavily guarded, though,
that a band of techie thieves cannot make their way into the
vault, making their way through hallways of fanged skulls and
massive collections of antiques, until they reach the end of
the path, where a metal coffin lies on a pedestal. Once on a
plane, their efforts to open the coffin result in the reawakening
of Dracula (Gerard Butler), who claims them all as the undead
and causes the plane to crash in New Orleans just in time for
Mardi Gras. But, amongst the festivities, young Mary Heller
(Justine Waddell) can't seem to shake the overwhelming sense
of fear from her mind, along with intensely haunting dreams
involving the handsome yet sinister man. As all this is happening,
Van Helsing, along with his business partner, Simon (Jonny Lee
Miller), make their way to New Orleans in hopes of finding Mary
and stopping Dracula from making her his own. It is here that
the story's better side kicks in, giving us an intricate explanation
for Van Helsing's connections to Dracula, as well as his connection
to Mary and Dracula's reasons for wanting her. The movie evolves
into a race against time ordeal, where the main question is
will he or won't he find her and claim her? There are some good
forces at work for the movie, mostly residing in the story,
which uses the legend of Dracula as a mere starting point for
its own machinations. It lets us know how Dracula came to reside
under Van Helsing's watchful eye, but from that point, it gives
us new explanations of Dracula's disdain for crosses and silver,
relating these hatreds to Biblical times and events. It may
seem hokey at first, but upon further thought, it gains credibility.
Casting is also another plus, the kind of cast that is not,
for the most part, widely known. Christopher Plummer, in the
role of Van Helsing, is everything the original character was,
and his ability to keep in touch with that fervor is outstanding.
Jonny Lee Miller plays a nice hero as Simon, and is convincing
in all the right places, including his loyalty to Van Helsing.
Justine Waddell is commendably stable as the unstable Mary,
and while he's not show-stopping, Gerard Butler does turn a
few heads as the title character. There are also some genuinely
scary moments that stay in the mind, though they tend to degenerate
into gory spectacle. There's the beginning heist sequence that
takes place in the crypt where Dracula's coffin is kept, which
is dark and ominous, while the sequence involving the opening
of the coffin is quite suspenseful. Director Patrick Lussier,
who takes a backseat to Wes Craven's top billing as producer
(an obvious marketing tactic), gives scenes like this a creepy
feel, but cheats us out of genuine chills with some excessive
bloodletting and dropping bodies. It is for this reason that
the movie is never really scary. Yes, that building suspense
is there, but only for seconds at a time. There's also a collection
of schlocky thrills intended for quick scares, characters jumping
onscreen to a soundtrack pulse, but soon after that, it all
dies down again. Predictability is another factor. The movie
gets it right with the unexpected outcome for Van Helsing, but
with every other character, we know who's going to live and
die. The outcome of the history of Dracula's origins is interesting
in itself, but not enough to keep our focus away from who will
be left standing at film's end. There's a lot to admire about
the story and execution of "Dracula 2000," though I'm sure it
will never surpass some of its predecessors. Unlike previous
films, it deals with Dracula's origins rather than with his
actions following his reawakening. The modernization of the
legend has its ups and downs, trading good suspense for cheap
"Scream"-like gore. I was impressed by the movie's guts... when
they weren't spilling out on the floor. -- |
| Image
and Sound |
One of Dimension
Films' best DVDs to date in terms of quality. The images, which
are dark and full of shadow and dark contrasts, exhibit 0.1%
noise, giving us a clean image that is also sharp and full of
brilliant colors. The sound is mastered in Dolby Digital 5.1
surround, and could easily be played on a 2.0 receiver to the
same exact effect. The soundtrack wraps into the surrounds,
which is intrical in many scenes involving dreamscapes and hallucinations,
bringing them all to stunning life. A very impacting DVD experience.
|
| The
Extras |
"Dracula
2000" has a lot of nice special features to make it a more-than-worthwhile
DVD purchase. In addition to an audio commentary track by the
director and the writer, there is a behind-the-scenes featurette
which features cast and crew interviews on their experiences
during the making of the movie. A collection of deleted scenes
and extended takes is made extremely interesting by the addition
of commentary for each scene, which provides an explanation
for why they were removed. Storyboards show us the way some
scenes were first imagined, while showing us some that were
completely left out. Audition footage is also included, and
a theatrical trailer. You may not think it's much, but the special
features on this DVD fit the movie nicely, and take up a good
chunk of time in getting through. -- |
| Commentary |
A nicely
done audio commentary by director Patrick Lussier and screenwriter
Joel Soisson, which goes into details about the making of the
movie and much more. Throughout the movie, not only do the two
of them talk about scenes that were left out or placed in other
portions of the movie, but their discussion also goes to explain
some of the aspects of the story itself. Also included are their
revelations of how things were filmed, what went where, and
much more. Definitely worth more than a listen. |
| Final
Words: |
"Dracula
2000" is no "Bram Stoker's Dracula," and it's nowhere near as
good as it could be, but it's still a nice package of entertaining
cinema. There's enough to keep us interested, though not thoroughly
glued to the screen. |
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