predictably brilliant

Rating: Null/10 (10 May 2004)

**SPOILERS**
It's groaning with cliches, there's way too much CGI, rotten accents, hammy acting, excessively dramatic moments, it has good goodies, bad baddies, slightly bad goodies and bumbling goodies, ludicrous plot devices and is oh so predictable - in short, bloody brilliant.
If you liked the Mummy, then you will love Van Helsing. It's nicely filmed, the opening scenes in black and white are a nice touch. From then on in, the mock gothic horror feel is well maintained, much as the ancient egyptian atmosphere worked so well in the Mummy. It's not worth going into the plot - hell, Sommers didn't bother! Suffice to say, there's lots of CGI ass kicking, and of course, the girl needs rescuing a couple of times. One criticism is that Sommers spent too much time setting up Van Helsing's mysterious past without ever resolving any of it. It's just a little too obvious that he's saving it all up for a sequel.
I felt the film was, in places, a little too reliant on CGI. I would have preferred to see Van Helsing and Dracula go head to head, rather than their monstrous incarnations. And if Stan Lee doesn't sue, I'll be amazed, because Dracula was blatantly Bloodscream.
As far as acting goes, Richard Roxburgh was deliciously camp as Dracula, his brides hilariously silly. Kate Beckinsale feisty and offering the most entertaining Romanian accent since Tim Curry in Congo. Hugh Jackman brought Wolverine out of the bag again, although instead of claws he had whirling blades that slid out of his sleeves. Cool. By far and away the best performance came from David Wenham, as Karl, the bumbling friar/Q stereotype. He had all the best lines, and just stole every scene he appeared in. My personal favourite was when he walked into the hall after a big werewolf incident and mildly enquired 'why does it smell of wet dog in here?'
To summarise then, cheesy, silly farcical fun, and i can't wait for the next one. As long as Sommers promises not to insert an annoying kid.