I usually find Nicolas Cage's special brand of crazy either hugely entertaining (Face/Off, Mom & Dad) or gutwrenchingly awful (Willy's Wonderland, Mandy, Prisoners of the Ghostland), with not much middle ground. In Renfield, the star is on cracking form, his version of the iconic vampire being absolutely hilarious. Unfortunately, this is a film about Dracula's familiar, Renfield (Nicholas Hoult), and so Cage doesn't get nearly enough screen time.
Most of the film sees Renfield attempting to break free of his master's control, while proving his worth to cop Rebecca (the awful Awkwafina, who is fast becoming a reason for me NOT to see a film); this involves the vampire's familiar taking on a gang of ruthless criminals led by a woman with a voice deeper than the Marianas Trench (Barry White sounds high-pitched by comparison). It's reasonably fun nonsense, largely thanks to the extreme level of violence (although the bad CGI gore is inexcusable), but with Cage stealing every scene he is in, one sincerely wishes that the film was all about Dracula and not his sappy assistant.
5.5/10, rounded up to 6 for the bit where Renfield rips a guy's face off (or face.... off, as Cage would say).
Most of the film sees Renfield attempting to break free of his master's control, while proving his worth to cop Rebecca (the awful Awkwafina, who is fast becoming a reason for me NOT to see a film); this involves the vampire's familiar taking on a gang of ruthless criminals led by a woman with a voice deeper than the Marianas Trench (Barry White sounds high-pitched by comparison). It's reasonably fun nonsense, largely thanks to the extreme level of violence (although the bad CGI gore is inexcusable), but with Cage stealing every scene he is in, one sincerely wishes that the film was all about Dracula and not his sappy assistant.
5.5/10, rounded up to 6 for the bit where Renfield rips a guy's face off (or face.... off, as Cage would say).