Renfield

I wasn't necessarily expecting exceedingly high quality from Renfield, but I was expecting a lot of fun, and that's exactly what I got.

The plot is thoroughly entertaining, with great pacing and a fun set of characters. It's nothing particularly complex or mind blowing, but it has some creative ideas that are nice and engaging. The tone is all very tongue in cheek, which makes it actually decently funny, which I wasn't necessarily expecting so that was a treat.

The cast are superb. Nick Cage as Dracula, need I say anymore? He is obviously a triumph in the role. Nicholas Hoult is a great lead, and supporting roles from Awkwafina and Ben Schwartz are great fun.

Overall I think that word sums up the film perfectly. It's just a whole lot of fun.

Cage was born for this role. He's not in the movie as much as I would've liked though. I was expecting him to go full Nic Cage mode here, but he takes a slightly different approach and it works pretty well.

The gore is amazing with some really spectacular dismemberments and blood effects. They're really fun to watch. Only issue I had with it is the CGI blood doesn't stain clothes, walls, and floors etc so it kinda gave an unfinished look.

Then there's Awkwafina. She can't act at all. Her line delivery is terrible. I have no idea why she keeps being cast in so many movies. She plays a cop but I didn't buy a second of it. If her role was switched with the woman that plays her sister the movie would been better.

Renfield. 2023. Comedy horror,featuring Nicholas Hoult as Renfield, Count Dracula's trusty familiar. Dracula played by and I hadn't realised that I really like Nick Cage. It's a enjoyable romp, think "What We Do In The Shadows" but with more gore and fighting. Similar to Shadows in that it's the everyday mundane stuff which makes the film, along with gory fight scenes with use of dismembered limbs as weapons which is nice and lots of bugs which will please the hungry among us. The subplot with the drug barons is a bit pointless but the counselling group which Renfield joins is great fun. It's worth seeing horror fans 8/10.

Last year, Nick Cage starred in a major theatrically released movie for the first time in over a decade. It was the pleasant surprise, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. I love it. And I hoped it would be the movie to bring him back to prominence. (Not that he ever left ;)

So I was immediately excited to see a new Nick Cage movie, Renfield, in theaters. Not to mention I love vampires. And in many ways, this movie is exactly what I wanted. It's entertaining, over-the-top, and borderline outrageous. I laughed a bunch, both at the comedy and at the craziness/gore. There is one scene near the end that perfectly captures the absurd fun (at the apartment complex).

At the same time, those crazy and outrageous scenes make up a very small portion of this movie. And overall, it's not put together very well. The story doesn't feel smooth. Seems more... frantic. Same with the action. It's not bad, but it's a little... frantic. Same with the movie as a whole. I could tell as soon as it started. It's kind of... hectic.

I was still able to get a lot of enjoyment out of Renfield. Cage gives a great performance. Six stars is a positive score for me. I had a good time and I'll probably watch it again at some point. But for a theatrical Nick Cage vampire movie, I can't help but be a bit disappointed. I should have LOVED this.

On to the next. I was already watching most of his movies when they were low quality streaming movies. You better believe I'm watching all Cage theatrical movies. More crazy and weird stuff, please :)

(1 viewing, early screening 4/12/2023)

LIKES:

Funny -A comedy needs laughs and this movie delivers on so many levels that I was surprised how much I enjoyed it.

-The dialog is super well done to be funny, so many techniques to bring laughs like: catch phrases, good use of curse words, banter, babbling, and sounding like an idiot.

-It all works for much of the movie and the acting helps add the emphasis and bring the right punch to help make the line the best.

-The dynamic style really works, but add the slapstick humor and over the top action stunts and it only further makes this movie a joy to watch. Ridiculous, but a joy.

Pacing Is Very Entertaining -It's fast, but yet contains a lot of merit in the way that it presents the story.

-Certainly more depth could have been given, but the pacing should appease the attention spans of most and works with the comedic edge of the movie.

-This actually works very well for much of the movie and adds some character to the movie that is already loaded with character to start, and I liked it.

The Chemistry -This movie is mainly about three characters, and though there are plenty of secondary characters, the chemistry really works for me.

-Awkwafina has a great dynamic of both silly and serious with her assigned partners, Hoult's engagement has so much depth that he really just meshes with so many of the people, and Cage might be a one direction, but again works with the characters.

-It's all this odd dynamic that mixes all the genres together to a degree that is just very engaging, stupid, and yet fun to watch.

Acting To Most Degrees -Again, the movie is not an Oscar movie, but it has great performances given the feel of the movie, and the surprising feel of the movie if I'm being honest.

-Awkwafina is for the most part goofy, and she does this well with her angry manner she often portrays. She runs her mouth, has an attitude that is "strong" and she curses well to make catchphrases stick. There is a sweet side as well, but it's minimal compared to the others.

-Cage is also more of the comedy side, his theatrical antics are so good, and though again over the top and silly, it meshes well with the menacing nature.

-He's having fun in the movie, and it shows, and that energy makes him more humorous at much of the film, but yet a bit of a threat at the same time. There is a little more mixing to perfect it, but I really enjoyed it.

And then there is Hoult. Holy cow did he nail this role for me, and I might have one of my favorites in how he play Renfield. There is this vulnerability that is authentic, but yet the humor is balanced, harmonizing together and making a wonderful blend and character. He did so much lifting and I loved it.

The Message/Story -You might not expect a serious story in this over the top comedy, but again I was surprised by the what they did in this film.

-Renfield's story was personal to me and that helped up the enjoyment with me, but others should really find something to grip to for all of the three characters.

-It's used in both serious and comedic purposes, and it does super well to integrate without tripping up on the other stuff this movie is trying to put together.

-That storytelling serving as a foundation to anchor to was great and I just absolutely thought it delivered sweet, savory, and silly to an amazing degree.

The Action, for the most Part -And somehow, the movie manages to outdo many action scenes I've seen in most of the last two years.

-Renfield has again this hybrid action and comedy mixed into one, and the combination really worked for me as his powers came out in full swing.

-Creative use of a lot of tools, super powers that serve an allegory to the morale of the story, and dare I say, some video game like antics that all really work.

-Add this ridiculous visualization with it, and you really get actions scenes that stand out and kick serious butt in terms of creativity, well at least most of them.

DISLIKES:

The Pace On One Degree: -The pace is a tad fast to really maximize all this movie was handling.

-Several characters had more promise, but took a back seat and I think it was just because not enough time.

-AN extra 15-20 minutes could have done wonders for the story elements, especially between sisters, but given the fun it mitigates this and makes it less of a hit compared to others.

The F Word Overuse -It won't bother most, but in this movie with so many creative words, dialogue, and sits you would think they would find a little less need for the F word.

-Some things, it's perfect and I laughed the hardest with it. And other times... it does nothing and is just annoying or tiring when we could have had something else used instead. Maybe it's because hearing the voice of Sonic saying it hits a button for me.

-Again minor for others, but the creativity drops big time for me with the overuse of this device and could have used a little more workshopping.

The Excessive Gore -This movie lives on the ridiculous nature of things, and the action is no different.

-While the moves are awesome, it's violence to a whole new degree and though comedic, may be a tad much for a lot of people to handle.

"I wasn't grossed out, but be warned this movie has a lot of ripping of body parts, dismemberment, and the blood to erupt from it.

-It's excessive, it's showy, and it's a bit sadistic, but again, it goes with the theme and gore lovers will rejoice, but for this reviewer, the overzealous sue eventually gets stale and kind of bland.

The Graphics -Most things are pretty cool, but some.. well some graphics are very fake looking and cheesy.

-I'm pretty sure I know why, to help with diluting the violence and trying to add that comedy tone. However, I can't say that I found it impressive and there was always things that technology can make better.

-Again, this isn't the biggest deal, but I'm just doing my job of sharing that the graphic were a bit too obvious for CGI for me.

The Final Battle To A Degree -The movie is gradually building up to bigger, better, and more awesome fights, impressing the heck out of my expectations and seeing some great choreography with it.

-Then comes the final battle. Justice and emotion wise, it rocks, but outside of a few key moves, the choreography took a dive for me and went to the anime level talking and punching.

-Again, the comedy is solid, the finishers are in line, but after the penultimate battle being so awesome.... I had hoped for something to combine everything and it kind of let me down.

-The justice and comedy will probably be enough for most of the audience, but that last fight had so much potential to be the pinnacle of this movie.

The VERDICT: Renfield turned out to be much better than I thought it would be going in. The comedy I knew would be very fun, but the movie's action and story turned out to be much better than I ever imagined. The movie has a lot of things brought together and I just loved how much things meshed well as the cast brought this tale to life. A solid story with morals, a pace that is entertaining, and a group of people to really make the entire thing come together. It's comedic and fun, it's serious, but not too mushy, and it respects the three characters so well with chemistry that mixes things in a favorable reaction. The Dislikes for me are probably picky, but I would say that there are still some things that need balancing out to make this movie even better. Excessive gore, cursing, and cheesy graphics are not the worst things, but I can't help but wonder if resources could have been a bit better. And as for the final battle and the pacing, it needed a bit more balancing as well, but it's not the worst thing to come to the theater. Thinking through all this, the movie gets the following scores:

Comedy/Fantasy/Horror: 8.0 Movie Overall: 7.0-