Good, Wholesome, Family fun (OK, Maybe not)

Rating: 8/10 (9 July 2004)

I want to know who it was that decided that great films had to be "great cinema." If anyone in Hollywood believes that their job is to do anything more than entertain the ignorant masses, then they have a vastly over-inflated view of their own value to anyone. "Great Cinema" rarely makes for a great film, great entertainment always does. And that brings me to the topic at hand: Van Helsing.
Hugh Jackman and company aren't going to win any Oscars for this film. It is most decidedly NOT "great cinema" or even "Mediocre cinema." What it is is the most fun and entertaining movie I've seen in a couple of years. And that includes all of the Lord of the Rings films, Spider-Man (1 & 2), Troy, the Scorpion King, the X-men films, etc. All of which I liked. Van Helsing was a non-serious, period-super-hero-action film that never even tries to be art. Which is good, because it would have stunk if it had.

You can't beat a movie set in the late 1800's that still manages to have explosions, monsters, and a Gatling crossbow. And there are quite a few very funny one-liners scattered throughout the film. Van Helsing doesn't take itself seriously in the least and it shouldn't have to.

Sadly, this is another movie going the way of Waterworld. A very entertaining film whose profits have been ruined by idiot critics who are actually looking for "Great Cinema."