Not a bad movie, but a poor movie.

Rating: Null/10 (17 May 2004)

After Stephen Sommers' "Mummy" movies (including "The Scorpion King", I had high hopes for this movie. Unfortunately, it didn't live up to them. For one thing, Sommers put too much into this one - Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde, Frankenstein's Monster, Werewolves and Dracula - so the plot was convoluted and wandered all over the place. The "solution" to the problem defied the strongest sense of disbelief, and a lot of the rest of the plot was too bizarre as well. I'm being deliberately vague on this since I don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it. I was also angered to see Kate Beckinsale's character, who is supposed to be a pretty mighty monster hunter in her own right, get pushed into a distant second role even after we see the kinds of things she can do - it reminded me a lot of what was done with Maid Marion's character in the Kevin Costner "Robin Hood - Prince of Thieves" movie where Marion very nearly kills Robin the first time they meet in the movie, but is completely incapable of taking the smallest part in her own rescue at the end (I distinctly remember someone in the audience screaming, "What the h--l is this? Two hours ago she was a f-----g ninja!"). It's too bad that Sommers forsook the ensemble cast approach that worked so well in all of the "Mummy" movies.
On the other hand, the movie sported the number of great performances you would expect considering the actors. Those of us who are only familiar with David Wenham from his portrayal of Faramir in "The Lord Of The Rings" get to see a wonderful comic side to his abilities. Richard Roxburgh again shows his ability as a villain; my only regret here is that that's the only thing we usually get to see him doing in the States. Another regret is that Robbie Coltrane and Samuel West, playing Mr. Hyde and Dr. Frankenstein respectively, get so little screen time. Kate Beckinsale again demonstrates a flair for heroic action and turns in an excellent performance, but gets pushed to the sidelines by Hugh Jackman. Jackman's performance was passable, but in spite of getting the title role, he got little material with which to work; I think Sommers must have told him to go out there and pretend to be the monster-hunting version of Clint Eastwood's Man With No Name (albeit a version who, despite being an immortal, monster-hunter, the supposed "Left Hand of God," cannot hit the broad side of the barn with anything but a shotgun, and then only if it doesn't really matter. Go figure), and that was pretty much it.
However, since I paid matinee price for it, it was at least a diverting afternoon, if not a really entertaining one. If I had paid full price, I would have felt utterly cheated.