Dracula: Season 1 Review

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Dracula, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, NBC, TV reviews, TV Shows

So NBC’s Dracula completed its first season this past Friday. That was quick. Doesn’t it seem like the show only debuted yesterday?

Click for the show’s page on IMDB

Well yeah, it only had 10 episodes for its first season. It is still not known if the show will be renewed for a second season as NBC is reportedly still thinking it over. Supposedly, there were some issues with the ratings, but those picked up during the last couple of episodes, so there may be hope.

But until then, I’m going to give my thoughts on this season and whether I’ll be tuning in for Season 2, if there will be one.

Overall, I felt Dracula was all right. I thought the acting was pretty much good overall, the costumes and set design was amazing, and the storyline was OK. I was uneasy when the show premiered because I was concerned that Dracula was going to be a soapbox to preach against Big Oil. Fortunately, that did not happen and the Big Oil topic became secondary. Instead, what we got was Dracula trying to walk in the sunlight so he could get revenge on the Order of the Dragon with Van Helsing, whom he was surprisingly in cahoots with.

I grew to like this new take on the Dracula-Van Helsing rivalry. Obviously they despised each other, but both needed each other in order to fight the Order of the Dragon, which had ruined them in two very different ways. I liked how this tale had Dracula as a member of the Order, only to be cursed to be a vampire by them. However, I wished we had seen more of Dracula’s life from before he was turned into the vampire. We kept seeing the same images over and over of Van Helsing’s family ruthlessly being killed by the Order, yet not enough of Dracula suffering from them. I get it that the angle was mostly on Van Helsing as he aimed for revenge, but it got tiresome and painful to see the scene where his son is forced from him and into the burning house. I wished we had seen more of Dracula with his wife, Ilona, who was killed by the Order, because that was what he was focused on, second to getting revenge from the Order.

I found Mina to be likable in this version, though maybe a little naive. Harker had good reasons to be suspicious of what was going on between her and Alexander Grayson. Lucy here reminded me a lot of the one in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1994 film, particularly when she, ahem, measured Harker’s pants. I wonder if having her being in love with Mina was a nod to the hinted lesbianism between the two in Coppola’s movie.

Harker is someone to like and cheer on. Yes, he was a douche for downplaying Mina’s interest in medicine, but given he’s the good guy in this story, there’s a reason to cheer for him. I was so mad at him when he joined the Order, but luckily, he realized that was a bad idea during the final episode. I’m glad he and Van Helsing are going to team up to destroy Grayson. Harker knows he has been causing chaos in his life and wants to ruin him, and Van Helsing is done with Dracula. It will be interesting to see what this duo does to ruin Grayson.

Before the show aired, Jonathan Rhys Meyers warned that Dracula was not a good guy here, and that is true. His Dracula is the unlikable villain that you strangely want to see succeed. Really, him making Lucy a monster because she hurt his reincarnated wife was him being a tool. Yeah, Dracula made Lucy a vampire in Bram Stoker’s classic, but ugh! Oh yeah, his creepy obsession with Mina was not romantic at all. I’d like to see what will happen when Mina realizes Grayson is a vampire. It won’t be easy for her to cope, now since the two of them have finally had sex. It’s like her attraction to him has been sealed. And will Grayson want to make her a vampire, even though he thinks it will be an abomination? Or will Mina ask to be one?

So yeah, overall I thought it was good. Not stellar, but not bad either. There were some episodes that dragged a little. I felt some of the sex was put in for the gratuity rather than to tell a story. The costumes are mostly good, but the makeup on the women was so not Victorian, especially Lucy’s eyebrows and Mina’s lipstick. The acting is fine, though I’m not impressed with Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Yes, the guy is sex personified, but based on The Tudors and The Mortal Instruments, I can’t help but think that he does the same acting over and over. Sigh!

If the shows is renewed for a second season, I’ll tune in. I’m not too worried about this show jumping the shark because if it does, it won’t be as painful because I wouldn’t call this show great. It’s good, just not great. But it is entertaining, pure and simple, and that’s enough.

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TV Premiere Review: Dracula

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Dracula, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, NBC Dracula, TV, TV reviews, TV Shows

I’m sure some of you are aware that tonight was the premiere of the much anticipated program, “Dracula” on NBC. Starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers, it is supposed to be a retelling of the Dracula tale, with some loyalty to Bram Stoker’s classic along with a new interpretation. I tuned in tonight, all giddy and excited. And also intrigued by how the blood and sex would be depicted because it is network TV.

Click for source of promo poster

Overall, I am curious about how this show will play out. I like how the show has the same story ideas like Mina Murray being Dracula’s reincarnated love, Dracula relocating to Victorian era London for business purposes, and so on. But there are some aspects I’m not too sure about, and may have to get used to.

This show has woven political statements against the oil industry into this show.  See, this Dracula is out for revenge on this ancient Order of the Dragon, which killed his beloved wife centuries earlier. This time, the Order has evolved into oil tycoons, and Dracula made his hitlist right after his coming out party in London.

NOTE: The Order of the Dragon is obviously a reference to the real Dracula, Vlad Tepes, or Vlad the Impaler. His father, Vlad II, was a member of the Order of the Dragon in the 15th century, with the goal of protecting Christianity in Eastern Europe. I wonder what the writers were thinking with making the Order about the oil tycoons and not Dracula himself.

The last ten minutes show Dracula is not operating alone. Van Helsing practically hired him to knock off his enemies as a sort of deal to bring a truce between their warring orders. I like the twist that Van Helsing supports Dracula. He practically hunted down Dracula’s grave, brought him back to life and brought him to London under the identity of American businessman Alexander Grayson. But I’m not sure if I like the idea of Dracula working for someone. I always saw him as his own person doing his own thing. So this is a new idea that I’m not so sure if I could like, but if it works it may be interesting!

What I am nervous about is what the promos show for the rest of the season. Why, oh why, did they make Dracula another whiny vampire who hates what he is? Come on, enough of that! Dracula always loved what he was and he had no regrets. I know regretful vampires are all the rave these days, but to do it to Dracula is, honestly, an abomination 😉

So Dracula is going to stalk Mina Murray until she falls in love with him…and who knows what will happen. The upper class businessmen will continue to look to destroy the man they know as Alexander Grayson. Also, there is a woman who appears to be part of a secret group of vampire hunters. We saw her practicing her fighting and sword skills before confronting a female vampire, who may have been created by Dracula. Looks like Dracula may be creating his legion of vampires, or there is another vampire around. The show hints Jack the Ripper was actually a vampire.

So, this is definitely a new version of Dracula. It does live up to the tagline, a legend is reborn. I get it that writers may want to experiment with a new take on a favorite horror character, but sometimes those experiment don’t always work out. That being said, I do think there is a chance this show may pull it off if done right. But don’t make Dracula a platform for rants against oil tycoons. Just make a good love story, intrigue and action, and I could be satisfied. Oh yeah, keep it up with the gorgeous period dresses!

And I was satisfied with other parts of this show. I found Jonathan Rhys Meyers delicious as always (yeah, my tweets make that obvious, lol). I was not bothered by his American accent. The network TV sex was hot, though I think I’ve been spoiled rotten by cable TV in that respect. And I do like the Dracula/Van Helsing twist. But the conspiracy aspect may just annoy me, and I hope it doesn’t ruin the show. But we shall see.

Until then, ladies and male-oriented men, here’s something to make you wild, from the first three minutes of the show!

 

How Will a Vampire View God?

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Anne Rice, Bill Compton, Diety, Dracula, God, Lilith, Supreme Being, Theology, True Blood, vampire fiction, writing

With the premiere of the sixth season of HBO’s True Blood coming up this Sunday, I figured this would be a good time to discuss vampires and their relationship – on any level – with God.

DISCLAIMER: This is not an invitation to debate the existence of God or any sort of theology. That is for another topic on another blog, in which there are many. Since vampires and God have gone hand-in-hand for centuries, this is an interesting topic to explore.

Click here for a good article and the Season 6 promo

Now if you watch True Blood, you may recall last season where Bill Compton and Eric Northman got caught up with the Authority and their worship of their vampire god, Lilith. Eventually, the idea of that Lilith wanted all vampires to conquer humans made Bill spiral into madness and at the end of the season, he drank Lilith’s blood and became a vampire god himself (Sounds strange, right? I was baffled over the direction the show went and vowed to never watch it again. Of course, I have since changed my mind).

So with season six getting started, it is clear Bill is not going to be just another vampire, but a sort of deity. How that turns out remains to be seen, but it does give a nod to the centuries old correlation between the bloodsucking undead and deities.

I wonder, though, that if vampires exist, and if there’s a God, how will the vampire see God as it lives it’s supernatural existence? (NOTE: I believe there is a God, but again, we’re not discussing theism here)

I would think that a vampire would look at God with a wary eye. Not wary in how will the Almighty strike him or her down, but wary as in preparing for a fight. A vampire would probably like to know what a supernatural being who rules the world would do another supernatural being who also rules the earth, but in a very different way. I would imagine that God might see a vampire as an agent of it’s archnemesis, the devil, whom poisoned the body and mind of a human being who was forced to become a vampire, or didn’t really know what he or she was in for. This leads to this discussion of whether vampires could be seen with pity. But I already touched on that before, so let’s move on.

The characters in my book mention their attitude towards God, or any deity, several times. The main character, Claire McCormick, is apathetic to the existence of God, Daniel Bertrand, her boyfriend who revealed to be a vampire, tells her that is what made him think she would be a choice to be his eternal companion. He explained that she had a love of life, so why not have that love for as long as whenever? She had no one to answer to.

Daniel then goes on to say this: “When you are made like us, you’ll see the power we have and how we will always reign over humanity. Striking fear into mortals, exercising a power and strength they can only wish to have. Basically,” he leaned forward. “We are the Gods, and it’s a thrilling feeling.”

It should be noted that Daniel was born illegitimate back in Medieval France, at a time where the Church had complete control over society. Being a bastard weighed heavily on him, and becoming a vampire set him free from his misery, hence him saying how thrilled he is to be God-like.

I would think a vampire would see itself equal to God like that. Immortal, supernatural strength and abilities, powerful over humans. If that vampire has accepted it’s new existence and has no real issue draining humans of their blood, then I would say that vampire is flipping the finger at God and the world, and not caring about it’s evilness. Sounds like an agent of the devil to me!

I also wonder if a vampire would ever think about the possibility of an afterlife. They have found the key to immortality and eternal youth. Why bother thinking about Heaven, hell, reincarnation or nothing at all? They got the longevity going and they’re laughing at humans for their short, fragile lives. Basically, I would think by becoming a vampire, a person knows it is superior to it’s former fellow humans in many ways. It will see itself as blessed with a rare gift and it can dance happily in the night forever. There is no one to answer to or to stop them.

But no one lives forever (yes, I know that is the tagline for True Blood this season) and vampires have been known to finally being defeated and killed. What then? Are they doomed for hell since they embraced the dark gift? More than likely that will be what karma would give them. I personally believe how we live our lives affects the way the universe reacts to us. Once we are released from our mortal bodies, we are in the hands of the universe. What we gave to God – which I believe is an energy force – will come back at us very strongly. And vampires will be in for some major retribution.

I will explore how the vampires of my The End of Eternity trilogy think about God and the afterlife a little more in my two next books. Not much though, because that really is Anne Rice’s territory and I don’t want to mirror what she did, which was done very well. I originally had a few scenes where Claire considers God’s existence and even prays for help. But I removed them because they would’ve affected my plans for my characters. But since the relationship between humans and deities played a role in my book, I won’t totally ignore it next time.

So, True Blood returns this Sunday, and Bill Compton is a vampire God now. Even the promos show Sookie asking in fright, “you think you’re God now?” and Bill seems to have fully embraced his status as a supreme being. I don’t know what to expect this season, because the last one was not very good, in my opinion. New writers were brought in for this season, so maybe they had cleaned up the mess left behind from last year. We shall see…

NBC’s Dracula – What Does the Promo Hint?

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Downton Abbey, Dracula, Fall TV shows, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, NBC, NBC Dracula, NBC shows, television, The Tudors, TV Shows, vampires

Earlier this month, the promo to the NBC drama “Dracula” was released, and I finally got around to viewing it. In case you may not know, NBC – which is gaining a reputation for some great shows – has produced a show based on Bram Stoker’s classic, though it is a bit different from the actual storyline.

Anyway, here it is:

Wow! The producers of “Downton Abbey” and the directors of “The Tudors” are behind this! This could definitely be a very lavish show. I’m a sucker for costume dramas because I adore the lovely gowns the women wear.

And I must say, Jonathan Rhys-Myers seems quite seductive here. It was hard for me to find him hot on “The Tudors” because I kept thinking how he looked nothing like Henry VIII. But here, he’ll pull off playing Dracula more easily.

It seems like the show doesn’t have Dracula as the historic Vlad Tepes, the Wallachian prince in present-day Romania who inspired Bram Stoker’s novel. By historical accounts, Vlad Dracula’s wife died by throwing herself off his castle, not from being burned at the stake. Hey, I’m not expecting this program to be true to Stoker’s book. I am just curious how the writers and directors will re-tell the story.

Also, this show looks like it will be very sexy, which is a big departure from “The Tudors”, which some viewers have called historical porn, LOL! But I admit it will be nice to have a show with some sexiness without the gratuity (nudge, nudge Game of Thrones! 🙂 ).

So, NBC’s “Dracula” looks promising. I will be tuning in when it premieres this fall.

Here’s more info: http://www.nbc.com/dracula/

More Dracula News…This Time on the Small Screen

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Dracula, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, NBC, Starz, Starz channel, technology, TV Shows

Wow, Hollywood seems swept up with Count Dracula at the moment!

It emerged today that NBC will have a 10-episode program about the infamous vampire, played by Irish actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers. You may remember this actor from the Showtime series, The Tudors where he played a skinny and always youthful King Henry VIII, as well as Bend It Like Beckham opposite Kiera Knightley.

This show, simply called Dracula, will have the Transylvanian count traveling to London in the late 19th century, where he meets a young woman who may be the reincarnation of his lost love.

Hmmm, sounds a bit like the 1992 film directed by Francis Ford Coppola?

Anyway, this could be an interesting show. I think Rhys Meyers could do a decent job acting-wise, but I can’t seem to picture him as a powerful villain. I guess he’s too boyish looking, but we’ll see.

Also, the cable channel Starz recently announced it is producing a Dracula-themed program, and this one will be about Vlad Dracula, the 15th century prince who inspired Bram Stoker’s character. This I am more intrigued to see rather than NBC’s show, because I would like to see how Starz will showcase the historic Dracula. About 10 years ago, one of the cable stations – I think the USA network – did a movie about Vlad Dracula and it was fairly decent.

In case you don’t know, Vlad Dracula was a Prince of Wallachia, which is a region in present day Romania. While he was known for fighting the Ottoman Empire from spreading into Eastern Europe, Vlad was most notorious for his cruel, sadistic ways – particularly his execution methods. He preferred to impale his enemies and anyone he thought violated the law on spikes and let them slowly suffer and die. It is believed tens of thousands died this way, and Vlad supposedly would dine among his impaled victims, eating as they slowly died while dipping his bread into a bowl of their blood and slurping that down. That is why he was also known as Vlad the Impaler – or Vlad Tepes in Romanian.

Anyway,  I wonder if Hollywood’s new found interest in Dracula has to do with reclaiming the famous vampire from all the loving, friendly ones that are popular in books, movies and TV shows these days. I’ve heard so many times that people who either big or casual fans of vampires are tired of the nice vampire and want to see them as villains again. Perhaps by telling the story of Dracula – both historic and fictional – vampire fans will have their wish granted.

 

Another Dracula Movie in the Works

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Bram Stoker's Dracula, cinema, Dracula, Hollywood, movies, Russel Crowe

I was checking out the latest headlines this morning when I saw that actor Russell Crowe is being considered for the latest version of Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

Apparently, director Eli Roth is in talks to make the Warner Bros. backed Harker, which is about vampire hunter Jonathan Harker butting heads with Dracula. It emerged today that the Oscar-winning actor Crowe may play the legendary vampire.

This certainly surprised me for two reasons. First off, I was surprised that Hollywood would want to make another movie based on the vampire classic. I believe the 1992 Francis Ford Coppola version is very well done, and I used to watch it frequently as a young teenager. But Hollywood is into recycling, so it figures.

But I was also surprised to learn that Crowe himself might play Dracula.

I simply cannot see Crowe play this role. Maybe its his stocky physique and the fact that he’s kind of old to portray the eternally young, strong Dracula. Yes, he’s a good actor, but…I don’t know, he just doesn’t seem to fit. In my head right now, I am comparing him to Gary Oldman in the Francis Ford Coppola flick. Nah, I really can’t see Russell Crowe play the evil, yet mysterious creature with a really funky accent.

If they do go ahead with this project, I will be hoping that it will out-do the 1994 version, which stayed as close to Bram Stoker’s book as possible. I adored the soundtrack by Wojciech Kilar (one of my all-time favorites), the costumes were amazing, and the acting was pretty decent. It was oozed with sexuality, which made this movie fun to watch. It was also not gory like many horror films, though there was plenty of blood – naturally, it was a vampire story.

So I really like Coppola’s film and if Warner Bros. allows this Harker movie to be done, well I could only hope it is done well. How many times do we see a remake and say, “I liked XYZ’s version a lot better”?