You're supposed to suspend disbelief, not hang it by the neck til dead

Rating: 5/10 (8 May 2004)

If you like frantic action and some really spectacular movie-making from a special effects point of view, see Van Helsing in the theatre and don't wait for it to come out on DVD -- it's too big for the small screen. However, if you like your action spiced with a good story and compelling characters, and you are bothered by glaring inconsistencies, see something else. The story is just barebones and dry -- go kill Dracula. The characters are all cookie cutter, with almost nothing at all original or compelling. Even Van Helsing's own story is hinted at but is left for the viewer to wonder, but is NEVER resolved (I hate that).There is an unexplained three-week skip in the storyline; how else do you account for there being two full moons separated by only two apparent days? (they handled a time transition very badly). Why is lycanthropy interrupted by clouds, but apparently a curtain won't work? How does the "machine crossbow" supposedly work, with no chemical or explosive reaction to drive the arrows out -- since crossbow works by the pent up energy of the bending of the prods, which NEVER MOVE (must be magic, because there's no other explanation). There are a couple semi-original ideas and a lot of unfulfilled possibilities with characters -- and the fact that not a single one of these ever comes to fruition just makes it more frustrating. As my husband put it, "too bad such great action was wrapped around such a crappy story".