I'm staring at him....

Rating: 6/10 (7 February 2010)

Van Helsing finds a land still mired in past, where legendary creatures of darkness come to life. A place ruled over by the evil, seductive and unbeatable vampire, Count Dracula.
It is Dracula that Van Helsing has been sent to terminate. Anna Valerious is one of the last of a powerful royal family, now nearly annihilated by Dracula.
A fearless hunter in her own right, Anna is bent on avenging her ancestors and ending an ancient curse by killing the vampire. Joined by a common foe, Van Helsing and Anna set out to destroy Dracula along with his empire of fear.
But in challenging an enemy who never dies, Van Helsing uncovers a secret he never imagined and comes face-to-face with the unresolved mysteries of his own enshrouded past....
Van Helsing, or how to shoot dead a potential franchise, promised so so much, and delivered so very little. With all that is going on and some reasonable special effects, it boggles the mind to discover that the film is quite boring.
Only Jackman puts in a worthy performance as the titular character, Beckinsale is just eye candy, and the less said about Roxburgh, the better (since when did Dracula become a new romantic?).
This film suffers from the same syndrome Spiderman 3 and Schumachers Batmans suffered from, too many villains, and too much going on. There is a story going on somewhere, But Sommers goes down the CGI route too often, and relies on Jackman to put in a semi Wolverine part every now and again.
But it has it's moments, The first twenty minutes are amazing, and really get the film going, but it all goes downhill rapidly from there. If the film didn't take itself so seriously, and was more tongue in cheek (there is humour, but not enough) it would have been an amazing film.
but instead of amazing, it just happens, and then it's over.