A tribute to CGI effects, but not much else

Rating: 4/10 (27 February 2005)

VAN HELSING
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Sound formats: Dolby Digital / DTS / SDDS
(Color & black and white)
Under orders from a secret Vatican organization, monster-hunter Van Helsing (Hugh Jackman) pursues Dracula (Richard Roxburgh) to his Transylvanian lair, where Jackman uncovers a fiendish plot to harness the electrical energy of Frankenstein's monster (Shuler Hensley) to revive thousands of the vampire's dormant offspring.
Having already plundered cinematic history for his recent monster outings (THE MUMMY and THE MUMMY RETURNS), writer-director Stephen Sommers reassembled the remaining members of Universal's 'golden age' creatures for this bloated concoction, in which a bare-bones narrative is virtually swamped by an over-reliance on CGI effects. It certainly LOOKS spectacular: Allen Daviau's restless camera swoops and dives around Gothic sets which stretch into infinity, while nightmarish computer-generated creatures swirl across the screen with gravity-defying abandon, accompanied by a ceaseless blast of multichannel digital sound. Sommers is clearly respectful of his source material, but his best efforts are compromised by poor scriptwork, unlike Bryan Singer's "X-Men" series (for example), which marries similar visual techniques to a strong plot line with subversive thematic undercurrents.
There are two stand-out set-pieces: Dracula's brides (transformed into flying harpies) pursuing Jackman's carriage through a fog-bound forest along the edge of a yawning chasm; and the climactic duel between two Harryhausen-style monsters in the heart of Dracula's castle. Even better, Sommers breaks new ground in the depiction of CGI werewolves, portrayed here as ferocious, super-charged killing machines in some of the film's most frightening sequences (parents of young children take note). Jackman is as personable as ever, though he's barely stretched by the material, and he's given able support by gorgeous Kate Beckinsale (much better here than in the similarly-styled UNDERWORLD) as the native Transylvanian whose family has been decimated by Dracula's unwanted attentions, David Wenham as Van Helsing's travelling companion, and Hensley (buried under Greg Cannom's vivid makeup design) as Frankenstein's creation. Roxburgh's performance as Dracula alternates between camp affectation and genuine malevolence, and he's upstaged by Elena Anaya, Silvia Colloca and Josie Maran as his ultra-sexy vampire brides. Dancer-turned-actor Will Kemp plays Beckinsale's handsome werewolf brother, and there's a welcome cameo by Robbie Coltrane (Hagrid in the "Harry Potter" series) as the monstrous Mr. Hyde.
All in all, VAN HELSING represents a step forward in terms of visual effects technology, but doesn't amount to very much as a movie. In trying hard to please everyone, it ends up being too much and not enough, and it adds virtually nothing to the mythos it seeks to celebrate.