One of my fav movies! Awesome! Its just like Castlevania!

Rating: 10/10 (6 February 2005)

I have always been a big fan of the Akumajou Dracula (Castlevania) series, and since i saw the trailer of this movie I noticed there was something similar to it in Van Helsing. So I was looking forward to see it. And I did and it surpassed my expectations by far.
That was one year ago, I saw it today on DVD and I enjoyed it as much as the first time. Van Helsing is an awesome movie, it has a great cast, excellent characters, locations and a wonderful storyline.
Hugh Jackman was a great choice to play the main character Gabriel Van Helsing, and Kate Beckinsale did a good job as Anna Valerious. The character design of the monsters is incredible, very well done and their CG rendering is convincing and stunning. Also, the non-CG characters, such as Frankenstein's monster, look stunning too. The Werewolf, is awesome, it's just as I imagine them, incredibly real-life looking and incredibly savage.
The locations are very pleasant to see, and they add a very nice touch of eeriness to the movie. Everything in it, from the start is top notch and though the movie is set in the 19th century, it has an excellent middle ages atmosphere, with strange frightened people everywhere, many religious references,prayers in Latin, catholic paraphernalia and themes, the oppressive clergymen from the Vatican and dark Gothic art. In two words, simply wonderful.
I have noticed some people says they didn't enjoy the movie and didn't like it. Well, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and mine is that this movie couldn't be better. A truly masterpiece, and I am not a guy that is into horror, gore, vampire, or Goth movies. I liked it very much because it is a great movie in all senses, and it did a wonderful job with each of the classic monsters we know and love: Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, the Werewolf, etc.
This is just a short review I will make for now, I will soon add more of my thoughts about this incredible motion picture. Flawless, awesome, and fantastic. My favorite movie. This is the closest you can get to see the manga/anime world of Castlevania brought to life.
Simply perfect. 100 out of 100.