In 1442, the Turks enslaved 1000 boys from Transylvania and used as Janissary troops. Prince Vlad was one of those boys and his ruthless exploits would earn his nickname Vlad the Impaler (Luke Evans). He would eventually rule Transylvania peacefully as a vassal to the Ottoman empire. Mehmed II (Dominic Cooper) is marching on Venice and demands 1000 boys from Transylvania. Vlad keeps his vow to his wife Mirena (Sarah Gadon) and battles the Turks rather than send his son. Vlad goes to Broke Tooth Mountain to seek help from the Master Vampire (Charles Dance). After Vlad drinks the Vampire's blood, he gets his supernatural powers. If he resists drinking human blood for 3 days, he would return to be human. If he drinks, he would be a vampire forever and could be called upon to help his maker one day.
There is too much exposition. It saps away much of the tension from the beginning. It starts off lifeless and tired. The 3 days rule is problematic for a number of reasons. It would be more compelling to straight-up exchange his soul for his kingdom. Instead, he's renting out his soul which is less compelling.
Giving the origins of Dracula a movie has some good potential. Luke Evans does a commendable job. Dracula fighting the Turks could have been another 300. This is nowhere near as good. The battles are neither fun nor suspenseful. Dracula is almost Superman and should easily defeat the Turks by himself.
That leads to the question of Vlad's illogical strategy. Why is he going back to his family and his people when he hungers for human blood? Why isn't he out hunting Turks from sunset to dawn? Why doesn't he just battle the Turks by himself? Why doesn't he go find Mehmed as soon as possible? Vlad's incomprehensible lack of strategy weakens this movie to its core.
