Fun...but the CGI was way too cartoonish....

Rating: Null/10 (9 May 2004)

I just saw the movie yesterday afternoon. It was an entertaining movie, good acting by the cast, good script, but my only problem was the CGI. The CGI looked too fake and unrealistic to me, in other words, the CGI looked way to cartoonish. But of course, you know the typical Stephen Sommers when it comes to CGI. Don't get me wrong, Sommers did a great job with CGI in the two "Mummy" sequels but when he did CGI in "Van Halsing", it all fell flat and dull.
"Van Helsing" wasn't the best summer action movie ever made but it sure was entertaining. The acting of Hugh Jackman, Kate Beckinsale and Richard Roxburgh were the best part of the film. Richard Roxburgh made a great Dracula. I also loved Dracula's female vampires.
It's just that the Frankenstein and Wolfman both looked too cartoonish. I just think this film would have been much better if the Wolfman, Dracula, and Frankenstein were done for real, not CGI. But of course, I can understand why Sommers would want the movie to look cartoonish with CGI, he simply wanted this to be a family film. Popcorn action entertainment for the entire family to enjoy. I would give this movie a score of: 7/10