You know, from the point of view of 2003, 2004 looked like a historical year didn't it?

Rating: Null/10 (17 May 2004)

I mean we had Brad Pitt in the Trojan War, we had the Mummy Man pitching the genius concept of a Hammer "Versus" revival, we had Ridley Scott going all epic on us again(!!!), and this is of course excepting the showstopper and king, Spider-man making a victory lap. How will Scott do? Troy I can tell you is great, the Spidey trailer couldn't look betterVan Helsing sucks.
Tell me honestly that you weren't drooling when he pitched the idea? Come on: Dracula, Frankenstein and Wolf Man versus an IndyJ. revision of the first (and coolest sounding) Vampire hunter? Alas it's an affront to logic but Sommers took exactly the same approach with Van Helsing as he did with Mummy 2. What's wrong then, you ask? Better question. Where to start?
Firstly, check the cast list Sommers, Brendan Fraser isn't in this one. Without his irresistible goofy wit the one-liners will flatten. And without his reliable gung-ho, love for the hero is also sliced in half. Without Oded Fehr to back him up there's no co-adventurer we'll swear allegiance to. Without the hot-as-hell AND adorable Rachel Wiesz there's no heroin we feel aloud to love from afar. Johnathan and Beni? Without them what do we have to chuckle at.
The second I saw that early concept art of Dracula, Frankenstein and Wolf Man I thought Sommers DID know what to do. He was goth-ing it up, I was prepared to sacrifice the humour because I knew it just couldn't sit. I thought Van Helsing would be a clashing of myths. You can't Nintendo it all up and make these beasties as commonplace as vermin! These characters existed before they existed, every culture knows em, passed down over centuries. They could have chopped that $180mil in half, and put a few hundred grand into a powerplay story that we actually wanted to watch.
I cant believe he actually dared to use the same junk that not only every other adventure movie used but that his own leading man lived off. Come on, forgotten pasts, dark secrets, soulful quests blah! Thats not only Wolverine and the Mummy movies it's the entire genre! We've had way too much of that already! And sexy as Beckinsale is she cant be both the quest and the love interest and fellow-adventurer and victim etc, thats just absurdly bland.
And Dracula! Uh boy. As big a fan as I am of Ozzie actors penetrating Hollywood I'm afraid my countryman was miscast. Dracula HAS to be VERY tall and VERY menacing. Oldman was a stupid choice and so was Roxburgh.
He cribbed from Godzilla!!! I mean for goodness sake, there are some movies you just don't touch! Rather than grand-scale it all up he should have put some quality time into the character that the entire "franchise" depended on!
Likely, Jackman is still looking for that much touted Indiana Jones to succeed his Han Solo (Wolverine), but my greatest fear is that this will be the finishing attempt at resurrecting the Vampire King. Please, please no.