May 9, 2004 -- “Van Helsing” reminds me a lot of last year's big budget flop, “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen,” and not just because it has some of the same characters (and actors). Like last year's movie, “Van Helsing” is a big budget film with comic book action, thin comic book-like characters, and a story which is completely scatter-brained. It looks great, but storywise, it is a mess. “Van Helsing” is already doing better at the box office than the “League” did last year because it hooks into several popular book and movie traditions, namely Frankenstein, Dracula and the Wolf Man.
Not content with just werewolves, vampires and the Frankenstein Monster, “Van Helsing” also throws in Mister Hyde (AKA Dr. Jekyl). Therein lies part of the problem. The movie has so many monsters to take care of, it doesn't have time to develop any characters. We learn little about the main character, a sort of anti-hero named Van Helsing (based on a character in the original Dracula story). Instead of the original character of a scholarly vampire hunter, we get a sort of monster-hunting James Bond, a secret agent for some secret organization within the Vatican. Van Helsing is played by Hugh Jackman of the “X-Men” movies. There is even a character just like the “Q” in the James Bond movies, a friar named Carl (David Wenham). Carl invents gadgets and weapons like a crossbow that fires arrows like a machine gun fires bullets. We even get the traditional Bond walk-through of the secret underground laboratory where the weapons are developed (called “Carl's Lab” at the film's web site). Carl is also the funny sidekick who comes along on the quest in Transylvania to handle the gadgets.
The love interest in the film is Transylvanian vampire hunter Anna Valerious (played by gorgeous Kate Beckinsale, who also played a similarly leather-clad werewolf hunter in last year's stylish “Underworld”). Anna is from a long line of vampire hunters whose ancestors are cursed. Dracula must be killed if the curse is to be lifted, but the Valerious family has never found a way to kill Dracula (no, not even stakes through the heart will do the trick). Van Helsing is sent to try to kill Dracula and to save Anna and her brother, the last of the Valerious clan. Along the way, he battles Mr. Hyde (played by Robbie Coltrane of the “Harry Potter” movies), werewolves, Frankenstein's monster (played by Shuler Hensley of “Someone Like You”) and lots of vampires led by Count Vladislaus Dracula (Richard Roxburgh of “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen”).
The story does tie all these various monsters and heroes into a single plot, but it is pretty messy. It just barely holds together. The narrative is almost incoherent. Writer-director Stephen Sommers (“The Mummy” movies) tries to use the same formula he used in the Mummy movies, a mixture of comedy and high adventure, but this movie falls short of his earlier films, which actually developed interesting characters. An attempt is made to establish a romance between Van Helsing and Anna, but it never really develops. There is also an interesting relationship hinted at between Dracula and Van Helsing, but it doesn't lead anywhere, either. The relationship between Anna and her brother is similarly stunted. The seeds of a good story are in this movie, but they never get the nurturing they need to grow.
What we get instead of a well-developed characters and a solid story is a ton of computer graphics, great-looking sets and costumes, and stylish production design. The film used some 70 different sets and about half of it was filmed in Prague, giving it that sombre, old world feel. The cinematography by Allen Daviau (“The Astronaut's Wife”), is exceptional, and the production design by Allan Cameron (“Shanghai Knights”) is spectacular. This is a film that looks great, and it has almost non-stop action from beginning to end. Since most of the action is computer-animated rather than real stunt work, much of it isn't very convincing. It is kind of like watching a cartoon instead of a live-action movie. Part of this is due to the nature of the characters, most of whom are superhuman, or who lack some or all of their basic humanity. The only character who seemed mildly interesting to me was the sidekick friar, Carl. It is a good performance by David Wenham, playing a character that is pretty much the opposite of Faramir, the character he played in “Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.” This is a disappointing film. This is essentially a high-budget, slick “B” film without the depth of character found in the original monster films like “The Wolf Man” or “Frankenstein.” It makes you long for those great old monster films of the past. It rates a C.
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