Movie Villains

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January 08, 2004

Dracula

Jonathan Harker (Keanu Reeves) is a young London lawyer summoned to the distant lands of Transylvania to help an eccentric Count get his real estate holdings in order. Count Dracula (Gary Oldman) is a strange, mysterious, and imposing figure clad in elaborate robes and employing a thick-as-mud accent, making Harker uncomfortable from the beginning, and soon after, paranoid for his life. This hermit of a Count has remained long hidden from the world, but a jarring discovery sends him to London. Dracula finds a picture of Harker's fiance, Mina (Winona Ryder), who bears a striking resemblance to his one true love, Elisabeta. She was the unfortunate victim of a suicide, believing her lover was dead. When he learned of her death, Dracula renounced God and cursed the living. Hundreds of years later, Dracula remains undead, but his passion is ignited by the sight of young Mina.

In London, Mina and her friend Lucy (Sadie Frost) spend time laughing and giggling over all the suitors pining for young Lucy, and gushing over Jonathan's adoration of Mina. Soon, Dracula arrives and, at first sight, is overcome by Mina's appearance. Mina, however, is repelled by the lavish wardrobe and outlandish accent, but soon softens to the Count's seemingly innocent advances. After spending a day together, the chemistry between them is immediately apparent. Mina and Dracula know they have a connection, but only the Count is fully aware that it spans "oceans of time" between them.

However, there is an ugly fact about Dracula unbeknownst to Mina: he is a bloodthirsty killer, a vampire who must feed off the living in order to exist. Like a rabid wolf, the Count stalks and seduces his prey, including young Lucy, whom he curses with a neckbite. She begins to transform into an undead being as well; that is, until Dr. Abraham Van Helsing (Anthony Hopkins) arrives to try and counteract the process. He is too late to save Lucy's life, but he restores her soul by driving a stake into her heart and chopping her head off. These practices are not easy for the uneducated Englishman civilians in his midst, but they must believe in order to defeat the advances of Count Dracula, the Nosferatu.

Dracula is a grosteque being, but at the same time a soulful, passionate, romantic individual. His obsession with Mina reaches a head when she asks him to make her like he is: a vampire. Dracula is overcome with love for her and cannot bring himself to commit this terrible act - to "condemn" her, as he puts it - but she forces his hand. He finally relents just as Van Helsing and company corner him. The race is on as Dracula rushes back to his Transylvanian castle where he can safely rest and regain his strength. In the process, Mina begins to show vampiric aspects, helping the Count return home. There, he attains his eventual redemption and returns to human form. Only then can he be released from his own curse, and Mina reluctantly stabs his heart and beheads him. Count Dracula's soul is released and his bond with Elisabeta is restored, but his reign of terror across London remains both frightening and legendary.

Posted by Destro at January 8, 2004 02:44 PM