Dracula Untold is the current buzz movie on in theaters tackling a story that unless you have been under a rock for your whole life, you know already. The story of one Vlad the Impaler. I went into the movie not sure if I would like it but willing to give it a try. I love Vampires and anytime there is a movie centered on one I am willing to give it a shot not to mention Luke Evans is easy on the eyes, so even if the film was not very good there was some eye candy for this female writer.
Luckily, as it turns out Dracula Untold is a fantastic film with a great and interesting take on the whole story of Vlad. We are told that Prince Vlad was taken from his people by the Turks along with 999 other boys, yes that is 1,000 boys.
That all of these young boys were whipped and tortured and then trained to fight and kill without fear or care. That one of them grew into something else, something terrifying. That one, of course, would be Vlad. That he began to do something with his enemies when he fought with a spear and in the image sketched on screen for us, we see of course the classic image of men speared and hanging over in a large field.
This is how he got the name, Lord Impaler. However, it is hen that the story says Vlad went home, back to his people where he retired and repented for his wickedness that he had done. Yes, you read that right repented. The only thing that Vlad seems to want for his land and his people is peace. Okay at this point the film had me interested seeing as traditionally Vlad is not portrayed as anything but Dracula, the blood sucking Vampire of evil who seduces women and you know kills everyone.
It turns out that the Turks have sent scouts into Vlad’s land and he knows there will be more, the helmet they find comes from a mountain that is called Broken tooth and he has to go explore. Sadly, this is the point in the movie when some big bad beast kills Vlad’s men, but he is able to get away out into the sunlight. Alright, so looks like we have our Vampire here and I keep wondering so he didn’t bite our guy so when is it going to happen?
The story unfolds more from here with a great deal of the story being laid down. Vlad has a Son and his Wife and he loves them very much. I like this heroic view that Dracula Untold is taking on the story that we all know so well because really who is to say it didn’t happen this way? We have no idea to know if he was not a good man that was pushed to far and that is exactly what happens through the course of Dracula Untold.
The Turks move in and push Vlad to a point that he has no choice but to fight back, a man who once treated him as a Brother who is now the new Sultan demands tribute of not only silver payment but 1,000 boys and one more, Vlad’s own son. There is a tense moment when we think that he will actually turn over his Son, but he ends up laying to waste about 5 or 6 men single handly. Luke Evans really does a great job of playing the strong and reluctant warrior here. So the action can really begin once that moment has happened and it does.
Of course I do not want to give away all of the details of this story, yes there is much of the basics known he does eventually make a deal with a demon to get the strength he needs to defend his people. Again showing us that Vlad is not a monster he is simply a man who is trying to protect his people and his family from a force that he has no hope of beating. After all his land is one of peace so he has only a small group of people who can fight, no army and they are up against the largest and most gruesome army of the time period. If you know anything about the history you know the Turks were this time periods Romans there was nothing they couldn’t beat and everyone was scared of them. They were utterly determined to spread Islam across the whole world and own it all.
There are moments of heartbreak within this action movie as well, when Vlad’s wife dies unless you are completely unfeeling you will feel something for him. Yes, she falls, but it does not happen like the history of the moment says, that she killed herself because of being married to a Monster. Alas, this is a moment that does indeed break our hero and make him give in more to his darker urges, which we knew would happen to fit the story.
What hero does not have dark moments of time? It makes their struggle better. From here of course, this writer will not tell you the outcome or the interesting little twist that they tacked onto the movie that has me hoping for a second film in the future. What I will say is there are going to be those who will love this movie and those who hate it, that is the kind of movie that it is. This writer is one who truly loved and enjoyed it.
The quality of the story is there along with great action scenes that will make anyone who likes an epic battle enjoy and geek hearts flutter with the Vampires coming out to play. A rousing success for Luke Evans that allows him to stretch a little more and show us his range a bit. Yes, it is another action sequence, but it has more depth to it than we have seen thus far with roles like Bard the Bowman. The bottom line if you want a new heroic take on the story of the Vlad the Impaler and want to see a story that is both action and story get yourself to the movies and check out Dracula Untold. A perfect movie to lead into the big movie season that we know is coming.
