Full Movie Reviews
Rating of
2/4
"Van Helsing" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 04/30/2012
Yet another CGI saturated set-piece assault from Steven "The Mummy" Sommers sees Hugh Jackman as Van Helsing in a kind of cross between James Bond and the monster mash. As usual, Sommers throws in everything including the kitchen sink in a film that is little more than a loosely linked collection of absurdly over the top set pieces with next to zero thought for pacing, narrative or characterisation. It's actually very similar to The League Of Extraordinary Gentleman, and suffers from exactly the same problems; the main difference between the two is that Sommers is a rather more competent director of action, but on the downside it does not have anyone of the calibre of Sean Connery on hand to steady the ship.There's also some shocking over-acting on display (Dracula's brides being the …
Rating of
2/4
Van Helsing
SmokeScreener - wrote on 03/08/2009
I loved the concept of this movie, but not the execution. The basic story was well though out, cleverly including most of the major horror characters from the classic Universal films of the 1030's and 1940's. However, there was way too much focus on visual effects over character. It is sad statement when the Frankenstein monster is the most fully-developed character! The wacky Friar, and Kate Beckinsale running around in high-heeled boots while chaisng monsters, do more to ruin the reality of the movie than the creatures themselves.
As always, I monitored the smoking scenes in the film. The cigar-chomping (and scene-chewing) Mr Hyde managed to single-handedly earn this movie a SmokeScreeners rating of 3 Butts! www.smokescreeners.org
Rating of
3/4
Almost perfect horror film /w a hint of James Bond
The M.O.W. - wrote on 08/01/2008
"Van Helsing" is a retelling of the famed vampire hunter of the Bram Stoker novel "Dracula". However, it is more an action-adventure than a horror movie.
Hugh Jackman plays the title character, who works for the Catholic church in this story, and is very impressive in the role. In fact, the entire cast is impressive -- some more than others however. Kate Beckinsale does another impressive performance which stands out in the movie, and is a great confidant to Jackman's "Van Helsing." Other actors do a very good performance of their roles, however they are not well defined -- a weakness of this movie.
One strong point in this film is the CGI. If you know what to look for, you will be able to pick up what is computer-generated and what isn't. The CGI aids in the scenery, which …
