Visually stunning, some liberties with the plot

Rating: 7/10 (22 November 2009)

First off, this film is great to look at. I loved the way Coppola used what he called "naive" special effects - very simple, but effective. The costumes are sheer genius, with their Kabuki overtones, thanks to the Japanese costume designer. Oldman (whose pedestrian appearance should have worked against him) gives a virtuoso (if not true to the novel) performance. But yeah...then there's Keanu Reeves. What was Coppola thinking? He ruins every scene in which he opens his mouth. Winona Ryder is not much better in the accent department, but she's a better actor than Reeves, so she gets away with it. Have to admit, I don't always get Sir Anthony's take on Van Helsing...getting seduced by Mina? No, I don't think so. I'm a big fan of the book, but this is one of my favorite movie versions. The other? The little-seen Louis Jordan version.