As we know from Sherlock, Moffat and Gatiss are fully capable of making a stylish modern interpretation of classic British literature. In fact, imprisoning Dracula in a modern medical facility specifically designed to trap a vampire is a fun reversal of the Gothic castle in which his victims were imprisoned. The premise itself isn’t necessarily a bad one. As it turns out, he’s been underwater for 123 years, and Van Helsing’s great grand niece, Zoe, (also played by Dolly Wells) has been preparing for his arrival as a scientist employed by the mysterious Jonathan Harker Foundation. He is immediately surrounded by police helicopters. Image: NetflixĪfter serving up two episodes of moody period horror, Moffat and Gatiss insert a major twist at the beginning of the finale: Dracula emerges from his coffin, which fell to the bottom of the ocean with him inside of it at the end of episode 2, “Blood Vessel,” and walks onto a beach. I was rolling my eyes when Dracula and Van Helsing continued their sparring with a literal chess match.)ĭracula and Sister Agatha Van Helsing go toe to toe. (Still, Moffat’s tendency towards self-indulgent cleverness is on display as well. The tension as the two size each other up for the first time is palpable - it’s not quite sexual, but it’s not not sexual either. Near the climax of episode 1, “The Rules of the Beast’’, Sister Agatha opens the convent doors to Dracula, having figured out that he cannot enter a space without an invitation. The series is at its best when Wells and Bang talk circles around each other. There’s a playful liveliness to Wells’ Van Helsing that compliments Claes Bang’s undead Count Dracula, who vacillates between suave and animalistic depending on how hungry he is.ĭracula’s first two episodes are full of scenes that fall squarely in Moffat’s strike zone: dialogue that reads as a verbal chess match between a brilliant hero and an equally brilliant villain. The gender reversal (which is revealed about 20 minutes after the audience should have figured it out on their own) doesn’t feel like a stunt in the hands of Doll & Em actress Dolly Wells. While the first two episodes loosely follow the plot of Bram Stoker’s novel, Moffat and Gatiss twist the literature by adding a nun: Agatha Van Helsing, who now goes toe to toe with the vampire overlord. The culprit, though, is not the bite of a vampire, but rather showrunners Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss biting off more than they were willing to chew in the first three episodes, which like Sherlock, play out like three standalone movies. ![]() ![]() ![]() Like one of the Count’s brides, the BBC/Netflix mini-series Dracula is charming, fun, and sexy - until it’s drained of all life.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |