I hated this trailer. It looks like What We Do in the Shadows if it had been made in that period following The Matrix, where everything needed to be a kung-fu beat em up. I am interested to see Nic Cage in this role, I love Nicholas Hoult, and I think Beltrami is the right composer for a film like this. There are elements I could potentially find pleasure in.
I was just thinking the other day "what is Marco Beltrami doing lately?", and this actually looks really fun. I'm sure Stoker purists will kick up a fuss about it but I think I might enjoy this.
It's funny - you think Nicholas Cage has reached peak Nicholas Cage and then he goes and throws a curve ball like playing Dracula
It's a role Nic Cage has always wanted to play. I don't know how many Stoker purists still exist this far removed from the books publication when Dracula is a more identifiable as a pure pop culture character. My reservations after seeing this trailer lie entirely on my single complaint. Why is this a wannabe kung-fu wire work movie rather than just playing confidently as a Dark Comedy, a genre of which both Cage and Hoult have incredible track records with? It seems more a product of studios notes dated from the early 2000s.
The film… I've heard/read mixed reactions: while Cage is mesmerizing, and Hoult is entertaining, the Awkwafina/Aghdashloo subplot(s) is/are undercooked.
Nevertheless, I'm terribly keen to hear Beltrami's score. Here's hoping it's a fun listen.
The moment the trailer started to highlight a focus on speed ramp photography and wire-fu was the moment I realized this movie was really going to lean into trying to do everything all at once. You can kind of see the lack of focus in the trailer. If only studios had the confidence to just make a darkly comic Horror film without all the trappings we left behind in the early 2000s after the successes of The Matrix and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
