Film Talk: Latest Movie Releases – Does Renfield bring the right bite?

I’m going to sound a lot older than my years in saying this, but it feels like five minutes at best since a certain bright-eyed lad with a bad haircut stole our hearts in About A Boy.

Yet, of course, this was in 2002 – 21 long years ago. Following his breakthrough in said rom-com smash (There’s nothing like a ‘Peak Hugh Grant’ flick to get a young Brit noticed – Exhibit B, Thomas Brodie-Sangster), a maturing Hoult swapped struggle for swagger as cock-of-the-walk Tony Stonem in Skins. Stealing teenage hearts as the Bristolian bad boy from 2007-2008, our Nick proved he was a burgeoning force to be reckoned with, and made a mark that would see the parts come flooding in.

In a superb bit of casting Hoult starred as the young Hank McCoy, AKA Beast, in 2011’s X-Men: First Class – a role he reprised in three sequels, each time to perfection. After a bit of post-apocalyptic fun with Tom Hardy in Mad Max: Fury Road, Hoult went on to enjoy a run of historical figure gigs, taking the part of Robert Harley in 2018’s The Favourite, the titular author himself in 2019’s Tolkien, and of course, Peter III of Russia in raunchy comedy-drama series, The Great. More recently, he took on the delicious role of an insufferable foodie in Mark Mylod’s The Menu, and now he’s donning the mantle of classic literature’s great ‘Mr Misunderstood’.

Directed and produced by Chris McKay, Renfield places Hoult in the shoes of the long-time servant to none other than Vamp OG, Count Dracula.

With Big Bad Vlad himself brought to un-life by Nicolas Cage, this comedic spin on Bram Stoker’s classic characters sees the deathly duo hitting the streets of modern-day New Orleans with carnage very much following. But does this one have plenty of bite, or are audiences likely to feel drained? Garlic at the ready – let’s do this...

RENFIELD (15, 93 mins)

Released: April 14 (UK & Ireland)

If you’re about to throw a self-pity party then lower the bunting for a moment and spare a thought for Robert Montague Renfield (Nicholas Hoult).

His life truly sucks – literally, when you reflect that his manipulative master is Dracula (Nicolas Cage).

For more than 100 years, Renfield has been compelled to care for the fanged fiend, sourcing unsuspecting victims of pure blood to sustain the Count’s life force while he chomps on insects and bugs concealed within a metal snuff box.

Crunchy centipedes and flavourful flies bless Renfield with bursts of otherworldly vampiric power to fend off attacks from stake-wielding hunters and pernicious priests.

Director Chris McKay’s twisted comedy recalibrates Bram Stoker’s novel to anoint Renfield as one half of a toxic dependency, who yearns to break free, lease an apartment and trade in the morose disposition and musty suits for pastel hues and sensible knitwear.

Screenwriter Ryan Ridley exsanguinates a story idea by Robert Kirkman, co-creator of The Walking Dead, to bless the title character with droll self-awareness as an increasingly violent tug of war between master and minion escalates wildly out of control.

Breathlessly orchestrated fight sequences are slathered in gore as Renfield tears opponents limb from limb, then uses a freshly severed appendage to bludgeon more goons into submission and give delicious new meaning to being armed and dangerous.

The backdrop to the bloodbath is present-day New Orleans, a city steeped in superstition that still bears the scars of Hurricane Katrina. Dracula is slowly recuperating in an abandoned hospital. While his master slumbers, Renfield seeks refuge at a local church where Mark (Brandon Scott Jones) facilitates group meetings for addicts of unhealthy relationships and empowers the servant to stand up to his controlling narcissist boss.

The power struggle unfolds on the turf of crime boss Ella Lobo (Shohreh Aghdashloo) and her hot-headed son Teddy (Ben Schwartz).

A lengthy missing persons’ list of Dracula’s victims threatens to attract righteous local cop Rebecca (Awkwafina) so the Lobos retaliate the only way they know: guns ablazing.

Renfield is a giddily entertaining romp through horror tropes that lovingly recreates scenes from Bela Lugosi’s 1931 Dracula to sketch the title character’s backstory before McKay floods the screen with viscera.

The zaniness of Cage’s performance is inversely proportional to the amount of impressive prosthetics (courtesy of make-up artist Christien Tinsely) worn during his rejuvenation from sun-scorched devil to full-blooded predator.

There are flashes of delirium from the Oscar winner, blessed with 3D printed fangs, but the second half of McKay’s film screams out for unapologetic showboating rather than the unconvincing romantic subplot that functions meekly as a catalyst for the explosive final act.

ASSASSIN CLUB (15, 111 mins)

Released: April 14 (UK & Ireland)

Hit men and women turn their gun sights on each other in director Camille Delamarre’s lacklustre do-or-die death match, which feigns suspense using composer Alexandre Azaria’s bombastic score and some overly enthusiastic editing of action sequences.

Leading man Henry Golding pummels his nice guy image from Crazy Rich Asians to a pulp as an expert marksman, who hopes to escape the killing game and is persuaded to undertake one final job before loved-up retirement.

Predictably, there is a sting in the tail to his farewell assignment and Assassin Club makes mountains out of narrative molehills, weaving a tangled web of betrayal that audiences will unravel well before Golding’s harangued hero neatly summarises the double-crosses in a single chunk of exposition.

The most emotionally vulnerable exchanges, which verbalise the inner turmoil of Golding’s assassin, lack the same fluidity and force as bone-crunching fights and chases, which have been a trademark of director Camille Delamarre since his feature directorial debut Brick Mansions and The Transporter Refuelled.

A gratuitous shower scene to showcase Golding’s tattooed torso is a cheap move out of the Jason Statham playbook.

Drawing on his military training, elite assassin-for-hire Morgan (Golding) has permanently silenced murderers, rapists and deviants around the world to fulfil contracts brokered by his surrogate father and mentor, Caldwell (Sam Neill).

It’s a lonely and soulless existence for Morgan from a base of operations in Rome until he falls in love with schoolteacher Sophie (Daniela Melchior). She is blissfully unaware of his true calling with a sniper’s rifle and is increasingly concerned by the number of bruises and broken bones sustained during so-called business trips.

Morgan ultimately chooses love over loyalty to Caldwell but money talks and the hitman begrudgingly accepts a lucrative farewell pay day: six separate contracts, each worth one million US dollars.

The targets are fellow assassins including Ryder (Claudio Del Falco) and Yuko (Sheena Hao), who have received the same set of contracts to terminate each other.

City streets across Europe are transformed into war zones as Morgan adjusts to life as the hunted, with a tenacious government agent (Noomi Rapace) and a French police inspector (Jimmy Jean-Louis) on his trail.

Sophie becomes potential collateral damage as Morgan roots out a Machiavellian mastermind behind the deadly plot to permanently erase him and his kin.

Assassin Club plays an overly familiar game of cats and mice, planting seeds for future instalments featuring Golding’s gung-ho globe-trotter and an alluring arch-nemesis.

That’s one contract Morgan should definitely turn down.

Dialogue in Thomas Dunn’s script lands with a heavier thud than the body of a gun-toting bad guy tumbling out of a window and onto the roof of a stationary car. Crash, bang but, sadly, no emotional wallop.

SUZUME (PG, 122 mins)

Released: April 14 (UK & Ireland, selected cinemas)

The fate of Japan rests in the hands of a gifted and determined teenager in an animated fantasy written and directed by celebrated Japanese filmmaker Makoto Shinka, whose previous work includes Your Name and Weathering With You.

Seventeen-year-old high school student Suzume Iwato (voiced by Nanoka Hara) is blessed with the ability to see supernatural forces, which are invisible to classmates and other residents of Kyushu, including her aunt Tamaki (Eri Fukatsu).

Suzume encounters a mysterious young man called Sota Munakata (Hokuto Matsumura), who claims to be on a mission to prevent an other-worldly entity from causing massive earthquakes that could destroy Japan.

The teenager becomes entangled in Sota’s antics, which require them to harness the power of magical totems before pandemonium spreads across the country.

Suzume is released in the UK as the original Japanese version with subtitles and an English language dubbed edition.

RAGING BULL (15, 129 mins)

Released: April 14 (UK & Ireland, selected cinemas)

A sparkling 4k restoration of Martin Scorsese’s loosely biographical and coruscating boxing biopic re-emerges from the red corner in bullish fashion, packing the same devastating emotional punch as it did more than 40 years ago.

Robert De Niro has never been better, piling on the pounds to essay heavyweight boxing champion Jake LaMotta.

Two Oscars – Best Actor and Best Film Editing (Thelma Schoonmaker) – from a nominations tally of eight seems scant reward for a seminal moment in late 20th century cinema.