Big, cheesy, Gothic romance novel of a creature feature

Rating: 10/10 (18 May 2004)

If you go into this movie expecting anything beyond a popcorn flick like INDEPENDENCE DAY or Sommers' MUMMY movies, you're destined to be disappointed. It's eye candy, folks, pure and simple. All style, with just enough substance to keep it interesting.
Hugh Jackman was perfectly cast for the role, as were Beckinsale and Wenham.
Without putting in any spoilers, I just wish we'd had a little more of Van Helsing's background, and I'd still love to see Anna in the sequel (and you know there will be one). Wenham's Carl is good comic relief, essentially being Van Helsing's Q for the duration. All three have picked up their roles with gusto, and it shows.
Richard Roxburgh is the only real drawback here. His Dracula has no charisma, no seduction, no gravitas, no menace, and no darkness about him. I wonder if the reactions to this movie might have been better if Dracula here had been a little more of the traditional menacing, seductive, dangerous Dracula.
To those folks that were expecting accuracy to the literary characters, I'm sorry, but it should have been obvious from the trailers that that wasn't coming. Although, it was one of the more accurate screen representations of Frankenstein's monster to date.
All in all, not perfect, but above-average. 7.5/10.