Director:
Stephen Sommers

Cast:
Hugh Jackman
Kate Beckinsale
Richard Roxburgh
David Wenham

Official URL:

http://www.vanhelsing.net

Country: USA
Rating: PG-13
Studio Name: Universal Pictures
Running Time: 2 hr 0 mins
Release Date: May 7, 2004

Critics's Rating:
(3 Reels) 

May 7, 2004

By Veronica Mixon

Van Helsing is a glorious, action-packed “cartoon” that celebrates the classic monster movie genre. While director Stephen Sommers choose CGI versions of the Wolf man, Mr. Hyde and the flying brides of Dracula, Van Helsing is still quite an effective, eye-popping adventure because of the vibrant presence of Hugh Jackman, the current reigning action figure from X-Men and the beautiful, leather clad Kate Beckinsale, the sexy killer vampire from Underworld. Sommers, who previously tapped into the old Hollywood horror genre with his updated version of The Mummy with all of its folklore and myths does the same with vampires. Van Helsing is a bit over the top like Sommers’s sequel The Mummy Returns but I think it will wet audiences’ appetites nonetheless.

Hugh Jackman clothed in a big leather hat and long coat and armed with an arsenal of super modern weapons makes a dashing figure especially opposite sexy Beckinsale. Jackman’s Van Helsing is no doddering professor of the classic films but a natural offspring of the energetic man of action that Anthony Hopkins played in Bram Stoker’s Dracula. In this film, he’s a secret agent for the Vatican and serves tirelessly to protect mankind from unearthly evil. He’s also searching for his past that (like his character Wolverine) is a mystery to him. Beckinsale, who is one hundred and ten percent more exciting in these swashbuckling genre films than any of her contemporary stuff, is the last remaining aristocrat in a Transylvanian village who must destroy Dracula before he hatches his dead off spring. She and Jackman have only one kiss but together battling monsters they generate enormous heat.

Van Helsing may have too many computer-generated monsters but the human characters are still worth the trip to the movie theater. Besides Jackman and Beckinsale’s battles and bickering, there is the dark, angry Count Dracula played by Richard Roxburgh (The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen & Moulin Rouge). Like any evil presence, Count Dracula exploits everyone who crosses his path and Roxburgh blends lots of humor to his performance. But the real humor comes from the smart, opportunistic friar Carl played by David Wenham, who is best known for his role as Famamir in the Lord of the Ring films, The Two Towers and The Return of the King. Carl is Van Helsing’s M and he provides all of the neat weapons like the automatic cross bow and the twirling saw! During the first aerial fight with the brides, he wisely tells Van Helsing to dip his arrows into the holy water and after saving a towns woman the once cloistered friar seeks an earthly reward much to the delight of the audience! To Wenham’s credit, his handsome face is unrecognized as Famamir because of his comic performance. Sommer also re-teams with the Kevin J. O’Connor, who played the rascal translator-turned-mummy henchman in “The Mummy.” Here O’Connor garners laughs as the nasty, smart-mouthed Igor who quickly leaves the employ of Dr. Frankenstein when he faces off with Count Dracula. There is also the Frankenstein Monster (Shuler Hensley) who just wants to live in peace and those bratty, talky vampire brides.

I hoping that Sommers doesn’t rely on CGI characterizations too heavily in future films because the old Hollywood classic horror films were excellent metaphors for loneliness, greed, obsession and madness, and his stellar casts can handle creating these elements with the right script. Van Helsing may annoy some critics and fans with its busy special effects, but I still found the film to breathing-taking entertainment!

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