Review: Dracula 2000

By Acheron on 2000-12-26 22:02:50

Killbot and I just got back from seeing the new thriller from Wes Craven, Dracula 2000, starring Jonny Lee Miller, Justine Waddell, Gerard Butler as Dracula, and none other than "Hyde" from That 70's Show(otherwise known as Danny Masterson). While the movie was horribly cheesy, it did entertain the two of us, which in the end, is what we went to the theatre for in the first place.

The film starts out pretty good. Some theives break into a highly guarded antique shop because they know that there's something behind all the locked doors that's worth all the security. The theives still the "treasure"(the coffin of Dracula, as you can see in the trailer), and head to my home state of Louisiana, where shit hits the fan.

Some stuff happens and Dracula tries to get in contact with a natural born vampire, which happens to be related to the antique dealer/vampire hunter. He follows them to Louisiana and tries to stop Dracula. That's all I'll spoil.

OK, the movie starts out really cool, and really promising (despite the fact that Hyde was cast in a minor role). Once they get to New Orleans though, it gets super cheesy, and grossly inaccurate. Maybe it won't be so bad for people that aren't considered "locals," like myself (and I guess, Killbot), but the portrayal of some of the New Orleans street shots during Mardi Gras were complete bullshit that would never and could never take place. Out of fairness, I must admit that some of the shots were live action of the festivities.

Aside from the setting problems, there were a few characters that were unneccessary altogether (for example, the almost too hot news anchor), and details like how the theives got the tools to get past the security to get to the "treasure"(ie, the retinal scanner, hand scanner, and voice recognition). A little more development of some of these areas, and removal of other scenes/characters would have made this a more quality film.

Altogether, this was a very mediocre film, but if Time is on your side this Christmas holiday, then you won't necessarily be wasting your money on this one(no guarantees though!). There's a thrill factor, and a comedy factor. This movie rips off a few ideas from other movies, as well as creates some new ideas for who Dracula really is. For example, in End Of Days, the main character had dreams of Lucifer seducing her. Same idea here.

Conclusion: 6.5/10.0. Rated "R" for violence, language and brief nudity(oh yeah!), it's not for little kids, or those easily offended be many things. It's not the worst film I've seen, but it's far from excellent.

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