19.6.23
Renfield is a disposable film of cheap thrills, which is mostly enjoyable for its short runtime. The weak writing and mediocre story are far from memorable, but the violent deaths and flattering nods to Fight Club and Hot Fuzz keep things rolling.
As is often the case with average action and comedy films, at least it seems like the cast are having fun during production. Nicolas Cage, ever the committed performer, brings his trademark intensity and unpredictability to an eccentric but toxic incarnation of Dracula. Nicholas Hoult on the other hand gives a more reigned-in performance, although he gets lots of opportunities to kill off henchmen in a cartoon-like fashion. Awkwafina, although energised, doesn’t have great comedic material to work with, and many of her funny moments fall flat, as do her serious scenes with her sister and corrupt police colleagues.
What lets Renfield down massively is its appallingly puerile soundtrack (Lizzo, Yungblud, My Chemical Romance) which fails to enhance any of the film’s key moments, and instead cheapens them. The painful romantic comedy scenes between Hoult and Awkwafina feel out of place and drain the film’s energy. The more and more I think about the film the less positive I feel about it! A relative disappointment from Chris McKay considering how much I love the hilariously riotous Lego Batman Movie.