Campy, vampy, and entertaining

Rating: 7/10 (8 May 2004)

"Van Helsing" is a movie that's loud, flashy, shamelessly over-the-top, and frequently silly. And so help me, I enjoyed it.
Make no mistake, this isn't something I appreciated on the level of, say, "Lost in Translation," or even "Spider-Man," for that matter. There's always a bit of guilt involved when I go along with this kind of material, born of the lingering knowledge that there are more intelligent and skillful movies out there. And yet, when Steven Sommers' adrenaline-fueled monster mash threw caution (and logic) to the wind and took off like a vampire bat-woman out of hell, I was smiling faintly, content to accept the movie for the amusement-park ride it is.
The Van Helsing of the title is not the scholarly Abraham of Bram Stoker's "Dracula," but adventuresome Gabriel, played by Hugh Jackman. He's kind of a Victorian MiB agent, taking orders from a secret ecumenical order working underneath St. Peter's Basilica. "We have protected mankind since time immemorial," a cardinal intones, as he passes through a room where priests, rabbis, imams, Bhuddist monks, and assorted others work side-by-side. Given the number of innocents who have died (and are still dying) because two or more of the represented faiths refused to get along with each other, one might suggest that they're not doing a very good job-but to borrow a phrase from Ebert, this is supplying logic where it is manifestly not wanted. Van Helsing's mission, should he choose to accept it: go to Transylvania, hunt down Dracula (Richard Roxburgh) and kill him.
Riding on this is the salvation of nine generations' worth of souls from the Romany clan Valerious, who in accordance with an ancient pact cannot enter Heaven until Drac is vanquished. The Valerious family is down to its last two scions: brother Velkan (Will Kemp), who's been bitten by a werewolf, and sister Anna (Kate Beckinsale), on whom the local vampires would like to visit a similar fate. Dracula, meanwhile, has his own agenda, involving bringing life to his stillborn offspring via the experiments of a certain Dr. Frankenstein. All this (and more) makes for a very crowded movie, and the story winds up not unlike Frankenstein's ultimate project: the parts don't fit together seamlessly, but as a whole it manages to work-most of the time.
With decent F/X and excellent settings (which look like they sprung from the collective imaginations of Tim Burton, Peter Jackson, and Edgar Allan Poe), "Van Helsing" is a handsome film visually. Speaking of handsome, Jackman cuts a fine figure in the lead role and, while the script doesn't always give him a whole lot to work with, he works well with what he's given. His Van Helsing covers much of the same ground as Wolverine (both characters are lone warriors with large gaps in their memory) but does so with a soberer, more conscientious bent. David Wenham has fun (and is fun to watch) in the sidekick role, a friar of strong intelligence and questionable spirituality. On the monster side of things, Shuler Hensley does the best work as Frankenstein's creation, a not-so-gentle giant who ends up being an unlikely ally for the heroes. But while Roxburgh looks good as a seedily aristocratic Dracula, his performance could have done with a bit more menace and a lot less scenery-chewing. I'm inclined to blame Sommers for this, since Roxburgh is somewhat effective in his more restrained moments-there's a nice bit where he attempts to seduce Anna at a masked ball-and in any case, it's still a step or two up from Gerard Butler's lifeless portrayal in `Dracula 2000.'
`Van Helsing' starts off strong, with a gorgeous black-and-white prologue, and has enough good action sequences to keep things moving. Only towards the end of its two-and-a-quarter hours running time does it begin to lose steam. But well before then, most audience members will have decided to go along for the ride, or opt out altogether. I chose the former, and had fun-but others may do as they see fit.