A tough movie to rate ...

Rating: Null/10 (8 May 2004)

This movie has been one of the more difficult movies to give a good rating to, mostly because it wasn't that bad, but it wasn't that good, either ... So I guess the best thing to do is just follow the model and give the good news then the bad news ...
The Good News:
1. The Music ... the soundtrack music to this movie is probably its strongest quality ... the background music that plays while Van Helsing and Carl are riding through the mountains is probably the strongest example of a very well composed soundtrack.
2. Certain actors put on a very good performance ... David Wenham fans, you can look forward to a good performance by him as Carl in this movie ... while many will disagree with me, I also found Richard Roxburgh's acting as Dracula to be very good ... many have said his acting was "over the top", but I found him to be convincing ...
3. The special effects ... which are actually going to appear in the bad news also, but for a different reason ... the GOOD news for the special effects is that they were very well done ... (aside from some of the ADR by some of the actors)
The Bad News:
1. There were also some poor acting performances ... do not expect too much from Kate Beckinsale or Hugh Jackman (both of which I have enjoyed in previous movies) ... however, before I hit them too hard, I think the problem was with the script they had to work with, not their own acting abilities ...
2. Now the special effects bad news ... WAY too much ... special effects should be like candy in a diet ... an occasional thing that we enjoy and look forward to, but if we have too much, it can make you sick ... the special effects, while good, occurred FAR too much ...

3. The plot ... the plot was difficult to get involved in, which, for me anyway, is one of the deciding factors in a good movie ... you have to capture the interest of the audience very early, and pull them in to the point where they want to see everything that happens next ... here, I felt the plot jumped sometimes, and that the movie put a few "push" moments in the middle of the film ... (push moments being introductions of plot points that can suddenly turn the direction of the movie) ... that could have used a little work ...

So, the overall score? 7.5 ... which is described basically as "not bad, but you won't be disappointed if you wait for video rental ... " Will it show up at the oscars? doubtful ... will it take in some money? probably, but not a record-setting amount ... see it, but don't feel pressured to catch it in the theaters.