Review of Van Helsing (2004) by Danny C — 05 Oct 2012

Energetic mash-up of the Universal Monsters trades in adventure and fantasy elements in favor of the traditional Gothic horror. Hugh Jackman is fine as the headlining Van Helsing, however the story curbs a bit of his charisma with a tragic back-story that can't help but recall Jackman's work in the X-Men series.

Both the ultimate feral nature of Van Helsing as werewolf and his amnesia all bring to mind Wolverine a bit too much and it never seems an easy fit into a movie that is already overloaded with back-story and mythology.

Just about everyone in the movie has some long complicated back-story and Sommers just barely manages to squeeze it all in while still managing to deliver an over the top action sequence every 5.5 minutes it seems.

The pace of Van Helsing is breathtaking and some of the action scenes are standouts, especially the attack on the carriage leaving Transylvania. Also the Budapest masquerade banquet makes for a well staged homage to the original Universal Horror, The Phantom of the Opera.

The only real damaging element of the movie is some of the acting, especially from Richard Roxborugh who is obnoxiously over the top. Shuler Hensley is equally guilty of shouting and over emoting throughout the film.

Faring much better are two of the supporting players, Kevin O'Connor as Igor and David Wenham as Carl the friar/quartermaster are the best things in this movie by far. The Silvestri score is also a major plus for the movie, especially the driving stringed theme for Van Helsing.

For fans of the classic Universal Horror films, there is much to enjoy in this movie but ultimately I think these characters are better served by a Gothic horror film rather then a fantasy/adventure vehicle.