Aggressively Average

Rating: Null/10 (9 May 2004)

No need to recount the plot here. No need to go over the plot holes, leaps of logic, and general shoddiness of narrative. I wanted to like this film. There are still parts that are fun and inventive (Dracula walking along walls and ceiling, nice touch), but the stupidity of the characters grows wearying, after a while.
Too, the "homages" to other films begin to smack of creative desperation. Not just the obvious rifts and lifts from the classic monster flicks, but the variations on Stagecoach, Alien, and James Bond simply distract.
Sommers has done great work with CGI in the past, but it still looks like CGI. So when Hugh Jackman is doing the famous Yakima Cannutt leap from horse to horse (first seen in StageCoach), the fact it is obviously the CGI Jackman robs the scene of any tension or drama.
Tip to aspiring filmmakers: Just because you can do something (hurl millions of dollars of CPU processing at the screen, for example), doesn't mean you should.