Good Fun, If You're in the Right Mood

Rating: Null/10 (2 June 2004)

I have to say that I am a big fan of "Dracula" and "Frankenstein" and all those other classic monsters. I've seen a lot of the old 1930s Universal films and I've read the original novels. Apart from some of the character names, "Van Helsing" has absolutely nothing to do with the original books, or those old movies (although they are cleverly referenced at the start).
In contrast to "Dracula"'s Abraham Van Helsing, an elderly professor, here we have Gabriel Van Helsing (Hugh Jackman), kind of a cross between Indiana Jones and James Bond on a mission to rid the world of evil monsters. Summoned by his employers, a secret Vatican organisation, to Transylvania, Van Helsing soon finds himself doing battle with Dracula, his three vampire brides, the Wolf-Man and Frankenstein's Monster.
The acting is wooden, the script is awful and the plot inconsistancies mount up, but this film is still a lot of fun! The special effects are great, the action scenes are impressive, the three vampire women are beautiful and there are a few laughs.
It's just a loud, fast, dumb action film, and providing you accept that going in you can have a lot of fun.
Personally, I enjoyed it. I thought it was great fun.