Review of Van Helsing (2004) by Peter K — 10 Apr 2015
A parody and plagiarism of other movie genres and characters, Van Helsing becomes a tough guy, gunslinging outlaw in the style of Indiana Jones/ Clint Eastwood western cowboy. His paymasters, The Vatican, come complete with their own gadget factory, headed by their own Q. And Kate B is in one of her usual roles as a tough, kick-ass bitch, but with more emphasis on the bitch in this. In fact, the good guys are so bad that they come across as people who are not much better than the actual bad guys. We even get the fall off the top of a tall cliff ploy twice, once with a team of horses and a carriage.
The monsters are loose, and so off goes our anti-hero into round after round of violent action in a movie that is devoid of a decent storyline, an anarchic mess of a plot with characters of little depth. Stereo-typical dialogue that comes across as more tongue-in-cheek, than any attempt to raise the standards of performance.
The superb scenery and the gothic, steampunk costumes cry out for something much better than this, as does the quality of performers used.
This review of Van Helsing (2004) was written by Peter K on 10 Apr 2015.
Van Helsing has generally received mixed reviews.
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