FILM: Dracula Untold
Cast: Luke Evans, Sarah Sadon, Dominic Cooper,
Art Parkinson, Charles Dance, Diarmaid Murtagh …
DIRECTOR: Gary Shore
Gary Shore’s Dracula Untold is a prelude to all the Dracula films that you have seen till date. In fact, it reveals the origination of the legendary Dracula. So, this one is far from the fearsome Dracula that we’ve grown up with.
Set in the 15th century, it is the tale of Vlad the Impaler, a Transylvanian warrior whose family name, Dracula, inspired the title and character of Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel.
The narration unfolds history, through a voiceover that informs how, in 1442, the Turks were on a land-grabbing spree and how Prince Vlad (Luke Evans) of Transylvania spent his childhood and youth serving the Turkish Army. After a series of ruthless campaigns, he is allowed to return to Transylvania to reign.
Years later, Mehmed (Dominic Cooper) the Sultan of Turkey, decides that, in addition to the usual monetary tribute he collects from Transylvania, he needs 1,000 young boys, including Vlad’s son Ingeras (Art Parkinson), to join his army, who “would kill without questioning and die without complaining”.
Considering this to be a high price for peace, Vlad goes to war fully aware that the Turks are all powerful and whose “men do not fear swords but monsters”.
In order to defeat the Turks, he then seeks the aid of a monster who resides in a cave on top of the Broken Tooth Mountain. There, he meets the blood-sucking monster (Charles Dance), who cajoles him to become a vampire with — “If I am your salvation, you are mine.”
This bargain, “a power of 100 men” where Vlad will gain the power of flight, speed, strength and sensory awareness, comes with a three-day soul-back guarantee. If he can fend off his need to drink human blood, he would return to normalcy or else turn into a vampire, for good.
Vlad accepts this and uses his new abilities to save his people, but when they realise what he has become, they turn on him putting Vlad’s wife and son’s lives in danger.
Shore’s interpretation of Dracula portrays him as a humane and tragic entity — “Prince of the Dark and Son of the Devil”.
For better part of the film, the narration establishes the setting and the characters.
On the performance front, all the supporting actors fit the bill perfectly. Luke Evans as Dracula is enigmatic, as well as adorable in the same breath. He exudes confidence as the compassionate husband, father and Prince, who would give up his life for those he loves. His transformation as a vampire is seamless due to the well-crafted script.
Visually, the frames are atmospheric in nature. The wide shots derived from the panning and tilting of the camera capture the vast scenic expanse majestically.
The computer generated images are a bit tacky, especially the rising and setting sun. And the colony of flying bats seems like an impressive video game clip.
With impressive production values, the setting, costumes and prosthetic make-up, are worth a mention. The sound effects too, are good. The one scene that stands out is when Vlad fights Prince Mehmet on a heap of silver coins. The effect is dramatic, as well as spectacular. Overall, this film is not for those seeking a spooky tale, but for those ready to enjoy a human-interest saga. (IANS)
FILM: Sex Tapes
Cast: Jason Segel, Cameron Diaz, Rob Corddry, Rob Lowe and Ellie Kemper;
DIRECTOR: Jake Kasdan
The Sanskrit proverb ‘Vinaash kaale vipreet buddhi’ (When your end comes, wisdom is the first casualty) aptly describes director Jake Kasdan’s Sex Tapes.
Sex Tapes spools and unspools the lives of Jay and Annie, who are obsessed with each other and soon decide to get married because of their good sex life together.
Soon, the married couple become parents of two kids and albeit madly in love, they now lead a harried lifestyle. While Jay works at a radio station, Annie writes a blog on motherhood and parenting.
Being at the radio station, Jay lands up receiving iPads. Whenever the next generation comes out, he gets two of those and gives the iPads he’d been using to friends, family members and even the mailman. But the real gift isn’t the iPad, it’s the playlists Jay puts on them and keeps updating through a complicated app he doesn’t fully understand.
One fine day, an image-conscious company considers buying Annie’s blog. In order to celebrate this, Annie drops the kids to their granny’s place so that she could spend some quality time with Jay.
In the flow of the moment, they realise that the sexual chemistry between them is weather-beaten. So, to spice up their moment, they consume a large quantity of tequila, but to no avail.
They then decide to use their iPad to film themselves having sex.
In the next three hours they try out every position from a Kamasutra type of book called The Joy of Sex, and exhaust themselves. Jay drifts off to sleep without remembering to delete the video from his computer as he’d promised.
So, naturally, their sex tape syncs to every one of those iPads, including the one Annie loaned to her would-be-boss Hank (Rob Lowe) as it is connected by an iCloud! Jay realises this after he receives a text message from an unknown source.
Now, faced with embarrassment, Jay and Annie, race against time trying to stop their sex tape from getting viral. But by then, it becomes clear that someone has already seen their tape and is out to blackmail them.
‘A mistake’, which Jay admits, forces them to take a route that is ridiculously paved with uncalled for and intolerable actions.
Cameron as Annie and Jason as Jay have a solid chemistry between each other, but unfortunately their characters are flat and one-dimensional, making them seem like freaks enacting a play.
Rob Lowe as Hank add an interesting shade to his character. But it is Rob Corddry and Ellie Kemper; playing a couple who are friends with Jay and Annie that develop a keen interest with the sex tape, that add an interesting dimension to the narration.
Unfortunately, their performances are short-lived due to the limited screen time offered to these characters. Director Jake Kasdan’s plot is sloppily drafted with an unoriginal climax. And his direction seems like an overegged pudding that is not at all hilarious.
Overall, this much-anticipated “Sex Tapes”, which seemed promising, is a big letdown.
