For True Universal Monster Buffs Only

Rating: 6/10 (3 August 2005)

"Van Helsing" uses a lot of old Universal Monster film bits in the film and the film will appeal more to those who may appreciate the genre. However, the film is mostly a CGI fest, with a plot that can be considered laughable at best.
Gabriel Van Helsing (Hugh Jackman)works for the Vatican to rid the world of monsters. Van Helsing is also considered a murderer as well by outsiders. Van Helsing is also a bit of a mystery: He has been alive and around for hundreds of years, and has no clue to who he really is (or was). The Vatican has a mission for him: To go to Transylvania to stop Count Dracula (Richard Roxburgh)from conducting experiments in which a vast amount of his "children" would be brought to life (He and his 3 brides are dead, so none of their children can live without some help). To do this, he needs Frankenstein's monster (Shuler Hensley)to achieve his task.
Van Helsing, despite his skills, needs some help. He gets this in the form of Carl (David Wenham) a friar who works with the Vatican and provides the weapons, and Anna Valerious (Kate Beckinsale), who comes from a long line of monster hunters who cannot enter heaven unless Dracula is destroyed, and whose brother Velkan (Will Kemp)has become a werewolf.
The film has long stretches which can bore you to tears. I'm not saying it's completely bad, it's just that the film has a lot of wasted potential. You see parts of a good old fashion monster mash on the screen and wish that it could have been better.
If you grew up with the Universal Horror Classics (Especially when they would put the creatures together in films like "House of Dracula" or any of the "Abbott and Costello" monster films), then this may remind you of days long gone. Otherwise, you may end up getting disappointed by what's on the screen.