"Renfield": Nicolas Cage as Dracula graced an already good film

On April 13, the film "Renfield" was released worldwide. A new story based on Bram Stoker's novel "Dracula" turned out to be interesting and bright, even despite some shortcomings.

The basis for the script was written by Robert Kirkman - the author of the comics "The Walking Dead". His idea was reworked by Ryan Ridley, a screenwriter who worked on the series Rick and Morty, Community, Invincible. Directed by Chris McKay (Robot Chicken, The Lego Batman Movie).

Starring Nicolas Hoult (Kill Your Friends, Skins), Nicolas Cage and Aquafina (The Goodbye).

The action of the picture takes place in our days. Renfield - faithful servant Count Dracula, ready to fulfill any need of the owner. The hero has been doing this for many years, but gradually realizes that the boss is simply manipulating him. Renfield even joins a support group for people suffering from toxic relationships, but still cannot disown Dracula, who forces him to bring new victims. During one of the sorties, Renfield saves Rebecca. He falls in love with her and therefore is ready to help her in the fight against the mafia. But Dracula is not going to just let the servant go, so he interferes with him in every possible way until Renfield abandons the noble mission.

Great main characters

Renfield is a film where the little things are beautiful. The film opens with altered footage from 1931's Dracula, with Cage literally playing Bela Lugosi as Dracula. But all the best is concentrated in the characters.

So, in the character of Cage, you can delve endlessly. It has something from both Bela Lugosi and Marlon Brando in the image Vito Corleone — infernality, peculiar only to mortals. Sometimes the hero even seems to be a member of a glam metal band: bright, comical, but at the same time terribly serious. The distraught Nicolas Cage does not just shine - he rather burns in this image.

The problem is that Dracula is a side character and the movie is only 93 minutes long. It is difficult to understand how many scenes are cut on the editing table, but if Renfield had added 10-15 minutes with Nicolas Cage, then the picture would have left more pleasant memories.

Renfield is great too. Nicholas Hoult reinvents Dracula's assistant. The actor managed to play the spiritual emptiness of the hero - in the end, he is a servant who always thought only about the needs of the owner. It turns out an interesting character, looking for support and support, and therefore subject to external manipulation. The main thing is that he is sorry, which gives the picture a dramatic effect.

Strange plot

The original idea for the film seems great. A servant of Dracula who is looking for a way to end the relationship, and for that he is ready to do anything - this is interesting. However, a good idea and a great cast often fade into the background due to additional, not very well-founded storylines.

Sometimes there is a feeling that you are watching two films at once, which were accidentally combined into one. The first is a comedy with classic characters, the second is a not-so-good version of True Love. Romantic relations between Renfield and Rebecca, when they are preparing to fight with the mafia, take a very long time, but still look insipid - between the heroes there is no chemistry.

Funny action

In the Renfield, heads are constantly exploding and body parts are torn off. It turns out to be fun and playful. Perhaps the action scenes look exactly as they should be in the film, where Nicolas Cage plays Dracula. Not the best computer graphics only adds to the absurdity of what is happening. The case when interesting ideas work even with average technical quality.

In one of the scenes, Renfield tears out the enemy's arms and starts to fight with them - this is the personification of all the action in the film. There is so much blood that in the United States the picture received the maximum adult rating.

Toxic relationship

"Renfield" is not the first modernization of "Dracula", but probably the most inventive. Dracula 2000 was packed with late '90s trendy music (like nu metal) and featured teenagers copying MTV - years later, watching the film is physically painful. "Renfield" is smarter: toxic relationships and reasoning on this topic not only resonate with current ideas, but also logically follow from old tapes about the graph.

Dracula's manipulations partly match his literary image - you can remember how the heroines of the book fell in love with him. But at the same time, the film also adds passive aggression with the constant imposition of guilt. As soon as Renfield starts talking about how the owner humiliates him, Cage growls phrases like "I'm a victim here", and then explains that without help he can die. All this looks not only appropriate, but also ridiculous.

Renfield is a good entertaining movie. Some scenes slow down the plot, but they are easy to endure due to the small timing. The focus on Rebecca also seems redundant. But the main thing that is in the picture is Nicolas Cage. He once again shows how you can amuse with madness - and this is wonderful.