‘Reinfield’
Score: ★★★
Director: Chris McKay
Performers: Nicholas Hoult, Nicolas Cage and Awkwafina
Premiere: 4/14/23
‘Reinfield’, the movie Chris McKay (‘Batman’, ‘The LEGO Movie’, ‘Tomorrow’s War’) about the relationship between Dracula (Nicolas Cage) and his faithful servant (Nicholas Hoult), has something of a missed opportunity, of a proposal that with little it could be much better. It has very stimulating things. The first, of course, the presence of Nicolas Cage in the skin of the mythical vampire. Another, his firm commitment to horror comedy. And a third, its deliberate and joyous celebration of excess: it is baroque, grotesque and violent.
However, both the script and the execution sabotage those successes. Al script you have plenty of heap resources and explanations (the whole therapy group part, for example, is repetitive and agonizing), and it lacks one essential thing: grace. There is not too much either in the characters or in the situations nor in the gag attempts. This is another one of those cases in which it is believed that what is excessive is essentially fun, when it is not. And the changes of tone of the story do not always work.
As for the execution, the commitment to that same excess editing and sound (the use of songs is terrible) messes up the movie It is impossible to know if the action scenes are well shot or choreographed because the editing is chaotic and bumpy. It is impossible to enjoy that celebration of excess because there is no way to retain the expressions / explosions of delirium, horror or gore. And although her look is incredible and every time the camera zooms in on her face, the promise of a Dracula to remember is felt, it is evident that Nicolas Cage is wasted.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J093zSvG-LI