Fun and fast paced!

Rating: 8/10 (24 January 2005)

This movie has amazing special effects and borrows from a lot of the action movie directing that is currently in vogue. Jackman is very likable as a monster hunter hired by the church to eliminate all supernatural creatures and some man-made (Mr. Hyde, Frankenstein's monster).
After disposing of a giant Mr. Hyde in London, Jackman is sent to Transylvania to battle the evil Count Dracula. There he meets up with a beautiful vampire slayer who is also after Dracula for turning her brother into a werewolf. However, she is reluctant to go after him because the townspeople are content to keep status quo with Dracula. Dracula and his vampire wives periodically feed on the townsfolk to satisfy their urges as long as the townsfolk don't hunt them. Any actions by the townsfolk against the vampires would result in terrible retribution.
Van Helsing battles Dracula's wives who swoop and dart through the air around the town while Van Helsing is shooting a "machine gun" type bow and arrow. The special effects of these scenes are amazing.
Later, Van Helsing does battle with Dracula with the help of a werewolf and the Frankenstein monster.
We later learn that Dracula can only be killed in one way (that way is revealed late in the movie) but that way is super risky. Meanwhile Dracula is unleashing a plan to launch a vampire army to take over the world. It is up to Van Helsing, his beautiful slayer, and Frankenstein to defeat him and time is running out.
A fun ride to the end.