How did they make Dracula seem so insignificant?

One of the shows that's been sitting on my DVR for me to try out is Dracula. I wasn't going to. It seemed too cheesy to me from the commercials. But then several people I trusted were enjoying it, so I decided to start recording and see for myself.

Cut to six weeks later.

I watched the first episode yesterday. So far, I'm...underwhelmed. I already have a negative bias on the actress playing Lucy. While Katie McGrath is beautiful and has certainly come a long way in her acting abilities, I find the smirking just a tad annoying, and I don't like the blonde hair. So going into it, that didn't help.

But I always liked Jonathan Rhys-Meyers before this. I loved The Tudors. And he's certainly easy on the eyes. But I finished the first episode wondering how it was they made their Dracula seem so insignificant.

Perhaps most jarring is the physicality of the role. Rhys-Meyers isn't the biggest guy to start out with, but he looks downright puny in much of the premiere, so unimposing that he gets lost even when he's the only person in a scene. His normally arresting eyes look too watery most of the time, so that he always looks like he's about to cry. Great for showing vulnerability, not so great for making me fear or be in awe of Dracula.

And let's not talk about most of the accents. Or the awful actress playing the ridiculous Lady Jayne (I realize she's done a ton of work, but I can't stand her.)

I'm not giving up. I'm hoping some of it will smooth over. I can forgive a lot of the inaccuracies and over-the-top-ness if the story and actors are good enough, so maybe they just need a couple episodes to warm up to the material.

Fingers crossed.