“I’m codependent.” This line comes emphatically and frequently from narration and multiple characters throughout Chris McKay’s ineffective, ironically poisoned vampire splatter comedy. RenfieldConfessions is part of a film’s throughline about people recognizing and taking ownership of the monsters that live their lives, but the flavorless pop that has dominated the release schedule in recent years. It easily becomes a reminder of culture porridge. We are all codependent when it comes to Hollywood. Thoughtfully crafted action movies have his two sets of sky superhero outings. There are some brazenly-written franchise entries that don’t stand a chance.
Still, I hope the movies make us love them, even though they might torment us with the sounds and images of the conference room every time we go to the theater. In a way, this makes us understand how Robert Montague Renfield (Nicholas Hoult) — a servant Doormat who was granted eternal life and superhuman combat skills by Count Dracula (Nicolas Cage) — solves Trying to become one of the most relatable Hollywood majors of our time. Escape from the master’s mystical grasp. But this comparison is also the only thing that makes the film remotely interesting, and it feels like a complete coincidence. cannot be saved.
![Nicolas Cage as a very traditional film Count Dracula (paper pale skin, widow's brimmed black hair, black cloak with huge high collar, hungry eyes) grabs a woman's hand behind her back.to Renfield's camera](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/gKQJih6dqI8B8MPtVmCLxkZdklY=/0x0:1920x801/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:1920x801):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24577974/Drac.jpg)
Photo: Universal Pictures
Renfield As bad as too many big studio movies are bad, it’s proving to be one of the worst examples of the modern self-reflexive, pop-culture-referencing “property.” Not an abstract idea: this $80 million monster what we do in the shadowsthe vampire mockumentary and subsequent FX series, showcases the mundane lives of terrifying vampires in Wellington and New York.
but here Shadow By deflating the grandeur of vampire lore, it quickly established a sardonic tone that McKay and screenwriter Ryan Ridley ( the walking dead I can’t pin down the tone or central premise of creator Robert Kirkman. RenfieldThe film’s performances aren’t serious enough to be satire, nor are they operatic enough to push the tone toward camp. The story unfolds in Dracula’s well-guarded secret world? A character that was thought to be fictional until it was revealed? who says Questions are not censored until one hour before his 90-minute run time. Then every human character reacts to Dracula’s presence quite differently, depending on the poorly set-up punch line that seems to have been written down in Ridley’s first draft. That is, if Support his character is given the luxury of reaction shots at all.
comedy of Renfield It comes not from human behavior, but from the inhuman delivery of references to familiar cultural touchstones. This only works once, when the film tells the history of Renfield and Dracula through particularly innovative flashbacks, by layering Holt and Cage on Tod Browning’s Dwight Frye and Bela Lugosi. Dracula, a 1931 Universal classic that cemented the image of vampires in American cinema. From that point on, the viewer may even have trouble recognizing which line is the joke. ska musicthe punchline is someone who refers to the genre with disdain, and in 2016 it would have felt a little dated.
![Renfield (Nicholas Hoult), dressed in a bloody sweatshirt with dark blood all over his face, is glaring at Dracula (Nicolas Cage), a laughing, bloody mouth in Renfield.](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/23UgLvnJ1H4dFvTCImWaQAlMgic=/0x0:3222x2177/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:3222x2177):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24577986/IsThisAStagePlay_.jpg)
Photo: Michele K. Short/Universal Pictures
Joining a New Orleans support group for codependents, Renfield’s framing device has just one joke about the movie drying up, and then several. It can be compared to a toxic relationship with little in return. But the problem with jokingly developing this comparison is that it’s not really a comparison in the first place. for example, 22 Jump Street It draws parallels between dating conventions and two undercover agents who have to negotiate a breakup, using terms like “need to investigate other people.”
When it comes to Renfield and the human members of his group, their problems are literally the same – unrequited love for a manipulative narcissist – so even the film’s basic setup is built into its overarching problem. people behind Renfield I really don’t know how to approach my material with integrity. Attempted double entenders usually have idiosyncratic meanings.
The problem with this film is not just its overbearing tone and phrasing. Its story is similarly half-baked, replete with references to overcoming demons and finding inner strength, which are lip service rather than dramatized or comedic. When Renfield stumbles upon an ongoing crime story, Ben Schwartz gets involved as a slimy gangster, Shohreh Aghdashloo as the mother of his imposing mob boss, and Awkwafina as a down-to-earth cop on their tail. (The role she plays is based on the material)—which has little impact, but is followed by many battle scenes.
Renfield’s timid demeanor should hilariously clash with his penchant for behavior that sits somewhere between martial arts and breakdancing, but that behavior barely registers to the eye or brain. , the visual is a salad. Each shot is cut to within an inch of its lifespan, so even if something potentially fun happens — bloody torn limbs, despite using horribly subpar digital effects. A splattered example — McKay usually just whimsically whisks past rather than wait any longer. More than a fleeting moment that should be terribly funny.
![Renfield's production shots show Bellafrancesca Lobo (Shore Aghdashloo, white pantsuit and thick gold chains) sitting in a black suit in what appears to be a neon-lit torture chamber. Benjamin Schwartz).Backlit mesh fence wall hanging from the ceiling and covered with garden tools, weapons and random knives](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/jc_CfsWLLF2_4oWjSuXnRVZEKxQ=/0x0:3500x2298/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:3500x2298):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24577993/Torture.jpg)
Photo: Michele K. Short/Universal Pictures
The exception is the bang practical makeup job applied to Cage when Dracula is a rotting corpse at the beginning of the film, and he desperately needs Renfield’s help. and is silly in a laudable way—it feels like Dracula’s rotting pustule flesh could melt from his bones at any moment—but there’s almost nothing like Gauche in Cage’s embodiment of the character. No. It’s a mostly single-note performance involving wide-eyed stares and drawn-out delivery. There is no rhythm there. There’s no glimmer of mischief, not to mention the kind of explosiveness and unpredictability that fans keep in Cage movies. Renfield nothing ends Viral Nic Cage Montageand that might be the biggest accusation.
Holt, like Renfield, is appropriately wide-eyed and self-deprecating. He’s not tired of watchingThis is the minimum requirement for an actor to appear on screen, but in nearly every other aspect Renfield From its mind-numbing action that refuses to splurge on thrills and extreme hilarity, to the scattered tale of a man who finds a way to confide in a boss he hates, we can’t meet. In that sense, it should be the most relatable comedy in the world. Here’s an image. The result will feel like defeat.
Renfield Theatrical release on April 14th.