Kate Beckinsale in a corset....

Rating: 2/10 (7 May 2004)

...yum. Unfortunately, I've just enumerated all the reasons for seeing this movie.
I went into this movie hoping to see a decent action/horror flick, light on plot, and was surprised to find that the movie didn't live up to even those meager expectations. Van Helsing never seems to be in mortal danger at any point in the movie, which left me with a "Who cares?" attitude throughout. The arch-villain, Dracula, is something of a wimp, who spends most of his time letting his wives do his dirty-work while he sits around various castles and walks on the ceiling.
Besides seeing the breathtaking Kate Beckinsale in a swashbuckling outfit, the only other bright spot to the film was the performance of David Wenham as Friar Carl. Wenham shows his acting abilities as he goes from the proud but troubled Faramir in Lord of the Rings to the stooped, studious, witty and faithful sidekick in Van Helsing.
If you want an action/horror flick, in which you can drool over Kate Beckinsale, go see Underworld. If you want a loud action movie with gadgets, gizmos, supernatural powers, and great special effects, go watch or re-watch the X-Men movies. But if you want a ludicrous movie where you find yourself bored silly, laughing at the script, plot, and fight scenes, and checking your watch while you wonder how you could have been so stupid to have wasted $8, then catch Van Helsing in theaters today!