Buffy Van Helsing, The Vampire Slayer (2004)

Rating: 1/10 (7 June 2007)

I usually refrain from writing negative reviews, but in this case, I think that I'll make an exception. If I can save one person from renting or buying this film for his or her collection then I've done a very good thing. Let me begin by saying that I admire Hugh Jackman and Kate Beckinsale as actors, so the problem is really not them in this movie, but rather how the movie is presented. First of all, I have a problem with the hero's name. I was certain that Dracula's nemesis was named Dr. Abraham Van Helsing, however in this movie version, his name is Gabriel. Secondly, Gabriel proceeds to use what appears to be modern day gadgets that one would find in the arsenal of Buffy Summers, if one were to look. If the setting of this story is supposedly sometime in the 19th Century, then why does "Gabriel" have these modern day "Bat-toys?" Thirdly, the script, what is up with all of those silly one-liners? And again, the characters are speaking in the modern vernacular, and not the eloquent, dignified speech of a 19th Century European settlement. These glaring discrepancies are what ruined this film for me. The silly one-liner jokes, modern day speech, and Bruce Wayne/Buffy Summer Vampire fighting gadgets cheapened the entire enterprise for me, and as a result, the film lacked authenticity. I did not like this movie.