Out of all the cinematic universes out there, only one has struggled trying to take off. That of the Dark Universe by Universal Studios which would’ve focused on their most iconic horror movie monsters such as Dracula, The Wolfman and Frankenstein.
The closest we ever got with this was with 2004’s underrated (but excellent) crossover film ‘Van Helsing’ starring Hugh Jackman as the famed monster hunter. Sadly, for some unknown (and insane) reason, Universal didn’t want to do a sequel to it and as a result ‘Van Helsing 2’ has been in limbo ever since.
Over this past decade in an attempt to compete with Marvel’s cinematic universe however, Universal have tried and tried even more to launch the Dark Universe. All attempts have been met with mixed to negative responses from the audience…particularly with the failed attempt to reboot ‘The Mummy’ franchise with Tom Cruise back in 2017 (I could’ve told them from the beginning that it wasn’t going to work because Brendan Fraser wasn’t in it!).
In 2014 Universal tried again to start off the Dark Universe with ‘Dracula Untold’, an origin story of sorts. Upon its release however, like with many of their failed Dark Universe attempts, the audience was divided by the film. There were some, though that thought that this would’ve been a good way to have started off the Dark Universe if Universal hadn’t gotten cold feet…again.
The story starts off with a narration from Dracula’s son about Dracula’s early life as Prince Vlad of Transylvania.
When Vlad had been a young boy he had been sought by- as well as many other boys at the time- by the Sultan of Turkey and trained as the ultimate soldiers; to show no moral or ethical obligations. Vlad ends up being the best and feared of the boys; his specialty was impaling his enemies with wooden stakes and display them. Vlad quickly became known as Vlad the Impaler as a result.
Vlad eventually manages to escape that life and soon becomes Prince of Transylvania. It isn’t before long before Vlad’s past comes back to haunt him.
Whilst on a scouting mission in the woods, Vlad (Luke Evans) and his group of men come across a Turkish helmet. They immediately conclude that a Turkish scouting party must’ve crossed into Transylvanian territory. After noticing a cave, Vlad and his men bravely enter it…but soon encounter- unknown to them at the time- the Master Vampire (Charles Dance).
The next day Vlad, his beloved wife Mirena (Sarah Gadon) and the rest of Transylvania are celebrating Easter. That is until the suspected Turkish party arrives. They won’t leave quietly though; they want 1000 boys to train as tribute…including Vlad’s own beloved son. After Vlad fails to try to peacefully sort everything out, it isn’t before long before the Turks declare war on them.
This leaves Vlad understandably worried; his forces aren’t enough to conquer the angry Turks. It isn’t before long until he seeks out the Master Vampire’s powers to help him.
As one who was hesitant in watching it for years until I found out that it was part of one of Universal’s many failed attempts at the Dark Universe, I didn’t watch it until last week. I admit that I really enjoyed it more than I expected to.
The action scenes were very well done and the scenes in which Vlad is using his vampire powers are very cool admittingly. I was surprised at how much of a bad-ass they made Dracula (and Luke Evans for that matter, a word I would never describe him as before this) in this film.
Ramin Djawadi’s score is also a joy to listen to as well. You may be familiar with his work on hit TV series ‘Game of Thrones’ including its iconic opening.
My only complaint with this film is that we never got to see progress with the Dark Universe. If there was any film that should’ve started it off (aside from ‘Van Helsing’) it should’ve been ‘Dracula Untold’.
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