Dracula 2000

A group of thieves unwittingly frees Dracula (Gerard Butler) from his century-old imprisonment at the hands of Van Helsing (Christopher Plummer).

Dracula 2000 starts off so promising. Over the opening shots of Dracula’s gruesome arrival in London a century ago, we see names like Gerard Butler, Christopher Plummer, Johnny Lee Miller, Omar Epps, Sean Patrick Thomas, Jerry Ryan and Nathan Fillion.

Such a surprising cast. Granted, Butler would have been better suited for the role had he been about 5 years older, but still… such potential.

So what went wrong?

On paper, a sure-fire way to muck-up a story is the passive voice. Saying “Mary was pulled into the arms of Dracula,” is boring. Much better to say “Dracula pulled Mary into his arms.” Not only is it a shorter sentence, but now we have action.

What does this have to do with the movie?

Well, in Justine Waddell’s character Mary, director Patrick Lussier and screenwriter Joel Soisson have given us the passive voice made flesh. For ninety of the film’s ninety-nine minutes Mary doesn’t do anything. Stuff happens to and around her but she can’t be bothered to do anything except look worried that she might have left the iron on back home.

It’s a glaring misstep that overshadows the clever story, above average production values, and yes, even the talented cast. Now, this isn’t the first movie to commit this sin. Sadly, it’s quite common in the genre, particularly in female leads; so much so that I’m coining it “Passive Female Lead”, or PFL for short. Ever found yourself shaking your head while watching a female lead inexplicably fail to avoid impending danger? PFL. Ever found yourself hoping said danger claims said lead because really, if she’s that stupid, she deserves it? PFL.

Just because I subjected myself to it doesn’t mean you have to. Make liberal use of the fast-forward button and skip all Waddell’s dialog and solo scenes. Don’t worry, you won’t have any trouble following the story. Which should have told the filmmakers something.