Oh So Bad!

Rating: 4/10 (9 May 2004)

Incohesive, confusing (and I use the word loosely) plot, poorly edited, obnoxious female lead, Bono is Bela Lugosi, and Frankenstein's Monster apparently has a Harvard degree! Don't get me started on the "Romanian" accents. And vampires in daylight? What gives?!
I expected so much more from writer/director Stephen Sommers. After all, he gave us The Mummy which was a great flick and even The Mummy Returns, while not great, wasn't that bad. But this is horrible. The only reason that I gave such a high score (4) was because Hugh Jackman is actually good in it. Kate Beckinsdale (Underworld) is woefully miscast as the female lead. What acting!! No, really. I mean WHAT acting? There was a lot of over-acting though so if you're going by quantity and not quality she was perfect! And her character has no where near the cool she thinks that she's projecting. Besides, should she really be doing two vampire movies in a row?

The actor playing Dracula (Richard Roxburgh) looked like Bono from U2 which was distracting enough but that poor man's Bela Lugosi accent not to mention another over the top performance. UGH!
The jokes were funny, especially the reference to Jackman's famous role, Wolverine. Only problem is that there were a lot of unintentionally funny things as well. And I never could work up any deep feelings for the characters. Look for Kevin J. O'Connell (The Mummy) as Igor. He's really funny although unrecognizable.
Van Helsing is a great character and I especially liked the Vampire Hunter D outfit. I'd take a chance on another one because it's too good of an idea the screw up the second time...right?
OH! Almost forgot! The special F/X were great! And that's one of the reasons that the movie is so horrible. The effects pointed out the terrible, and I use the term loosely, plot. Still, I think it's worth a sequel if the script is right.