Renfield

 

Score:  B+

Directed by Chris McKay

Starring Nicholas Hoult, Nicolas Cage, Awkwafina

Running time: 93 minutes

Rated R

Long Story Short:  The monster genre receives a needed dose of humor with Renfield, focusing on the famed Dracula's servant familiar.  Hoult and cult-status star Cage (both Nicholases!) do great work, and even better is the interesting contrast of a classic "toxic" relationship with the modern world's determination to end those predicaments.  Ultimately it's an action-comedy, but you'll be surprised by its level of quality.  Highly recommended (if you can take the blood and guts).

Renfield (Hoult) is tired of his life of evil.  For over a hundred years, he has been Count Dracula's (Cage) familiar - or servant - given a supernaturally-extended life in exchange for providing his master with fresh human meals.  From their current hideout in New Orleans, Renfield seeks help in a community mutual aid group where victims of bad relationships and situations console and support each other.  In branching out, Renfield discovers the modern world's more conventional evil through the mob, and meets one of the few police officers willing to take it head on.  There is a lot going against Renfield and his new friend, but together they are determined to make the world a better place.

Renfield is a surprisingly good action-comedy movie, thanks especially to some really fun performances and a clever, well-executed premise.  Despite being a Dracula movie, this is not a horror movie (and I would know, not being a fan of the genre).  Instead, it's more like tongue-in-cheek modern actioners like Cage's own Kick-Ass (which I'd also highly recommend).  Renfield also has that movie's body count and blood and gore, so be warned!  Beyond the stylishness, though, Renfield is more notable for its clever combination of the classic - i.e., old-fashioned - monster genre with modern social-psychological themes like co-dependency and support groups.  This odd mashup actually works well, and provides the basis for the movie's plentiful humor by contrasting the ridiculousness of Renfield's supernatural "relationship" to Dracula with his dully modern methods of dealing with it.  I should note that while other movies have interesting premises, too, Renfield truly makes good on it, scene by scene, thanks to a strong script.  There are also more generic old world-new world funny comparisons, of course, (from language to wardrobe) but the movie wisely doesn't focus on them.  There are a few moments when the theme feels a little overdone, but Renfield's well-edited, compact 90-minute running time makes these fleeting.  There is also a side yet parallel theme of our modern world's own monsters (e.g., the mob) and their enablers (corrupt cops) - but this is still an action-comedy, so it doesn't try to dig too deep.

For more visceral entertainment, Renfield also has plenty of fun acting and exciting action scenes.  Nicholas Hoult is the titular lead and he continues to show that he is among his generation's finest actors (be sure to stream last year's The Menu for a much different performance).  Despite technically being the lackey, Hoult makes Renfield a strong, compelling lead as a man turned monster, trying to become a man once again.  And Nicolas Cage is perfectly cast as Dracula - though just as appropriately, his screen time is somewhat limited to let the effect really "sink in".  Crazy he may be, but Cage channels a creepy and intense, yet often quite funny, vibe - he sucks in the camera and your attention and won't let go.  A pair of quality comedians co-star, in Awkwafina's good cop Rebecca and Ben Schwartz's entitled Mob heir.  Awkwafina's "cut the crap" attitude is well-suited here and Schwartz basically reprises his Parks & Rec character (also a perfect fit).  There are other side players, too, my favorite of which are the members of Renfield's support group.  Those scenes, plus the odd couple of Renfield and Rebecca, are highlights, but the action is fun, too.  Best of all - to me - is that it strikes the right balance of keeping the movie lively but not being so frequent or extended as to become numbing or dull.  Slightly over-the-top audible crunches and rips accompany the mayhem, making you cringe as limbs are torn apart.  The first one, involving some low-level drug dealers who you quickly come to pity, is particularly well done. Finally, the production work is really well done, too, with great makeup and costuming.  CGI is kept to a relative minimum (though nicely done to insert Cage as Dracula into classic scenes).

***

After a slow start to the year, the spring has provided some really good theater experiences.  Renfield is the kind of movie I usually skip, but I was drawn to it by my admiration for Hoult and curiosity in Cage - its being presented as a comedy helped, too. That all panned out even better than I expected, to go with the well-conceived psychological themes.  In many ways, this is exactly the kind of movie I want to see more of from Hollywood.  It's not completely original, of course, but it puts the familiar (Dracula, etc.) into a fun new context, and this is the focus.  It's also very well made, from performances to production to script, while also not trying to be more than it really is.  Hopefully there is more to come along those lines, especially as we get ready to enter the summer movie season!  In the meantime, if you do want something literally more like Renfield - in other words, funny vampire stuff - check out the Leslie Nielsen-Mel Brooks collaboration Dracula: Dead and Loving It and the TV show What We Do in the Shadows.

* By Universal Pictures - https://www.universalpictures.com/movies/renfield, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=72674354

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

 

Score:  A-

Directed by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley

Starring Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Justice Smith, Sophia Lillis

Running time: 134 minutes

Rated PG-13

Long Story Short:  Nerd-favorite Dungeons & Dragons returns to the big screen, and unlike most game adaptations, this one notches a high score.  It's very much a fantasy in its magical worldbuilding, but it does so in clever, cheeky, and often hilarious ways.  The cast, led by a game Chris Pine, is very solid and makes you feel like you're on a true adventure with them and not simply in a race to an inevitable, boring climactic battle.  Highly recommended for all, not just fantasy fans.

Forced to labor away in a prison mine in a fantastical land, Edgin (Pine) has seen his once noble life as a heroic knight, husband, and father crumble around him.  Longing for redemption and his family, Edgin breaks free along with his loyal partner Holga (Rodriguez).  The outside world has changed drastically since he last saw it, however, and Edgin finds he can no longer count on old allies or customs.  So Edgin, facing danger beyond any he has known before, must draw from both his courage and his shadier side; and depend on not just faithful Holga but also unusual and unexpected new friends.

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is one of the most entertaining fantasy movies in years, a bit of a throwback in its avoidance of the genre's dreary pitfalls while also providing exceptional humor.  I don't really know much about D&D, other than a passing familiarity with how the game works - wisely, the film doesn't expect you to know anything.  It hits a nice, irreverent sweet spot, with a light tone but not one that tumbles into eye-rolling parody.  The plot is nothing special, but I appreciate two things about it: one, it's not yet another end-of-the-world epic, and two, it is solid enough to hold up yet makes way for other elements to shine.  One of those elements is the action, which is great in both its quantity and quality.  There is not too much in the way of standard fighting, as none of the characters can simply punch their way to victory; instead, they rely on cleverness.  And there are also few big CGI scenes; the ones that impress most are those with the best design, such as a shapeshifter frantically changing between animal forms while trying to escape, and a moving-caravan heist in which magical portals make you lose track of up and down.

D&D doesn't feature any all-time classic characters, but it still has a fun roster that easily carries the film with its charisma and chemistry.  Pine brings the great mischievousness that he showed as Captain Kirk, though with only a small dose of that icon's heroism.  But he isn't an anti-hero, either; just a guy with a lot of flaws that you still root for.  If anything, Rodriguez's Holga is the more traditional hero type, or at least action star, as she shows in a handful of scenes kicking soldiers' butts.  The dynamic between Edgin and Holga feels fresh, in both subtle and not-so-subtle ways, disrupting the typical gender balance.  Yendar, played by Bridgerton hunk Rege-Jean Page, is what you'd expect in the lead role, but he only gets a few minutes and gets poked fun at for most of that time.  Hugh Grant's Forge steals many scenes, which leads to the movie's strength: its sense of humor.  From the first scene through the last (stay for the credits!), laughs abound.  Most of it is slapstick, but very well-written and performed at that, and not just the human characters but also an obese beast and an animatronic avian.  Even with all the good humor, though, D&D is lent some weight by Edgin's quest for his daughter - not just for her safety but also for her forgiveness.

***

I didn't think I would see D&D in the theater, but after some positive word-of-mouth, I gave it a try and I'm glad that I did.  Part of my reluctance was due to the poor track record of movie adaptations of games (video, board, or otherwise) and part was due to a general weariness toward fantasy.  But D&D overcame both of those concerns easily.  Only a few brief moments reminded me that it was based on a game, and it distinguished itself clearly from its genre peers in its high quality, creativity, and sheer, genuine fun.  I'm not sure how I feel about the idea of a sequel... but I would definitely like to see more movies - in all genres - with its thoughtfulness, cohesion, and good spirit.  Check this one out in theaters!

* By Paramount Pictures - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2906216/mediaviewer/rm2360753153/?ref_=tt_ov_i, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=72830741