Dracula is not the only thing that sucks

Rating: 2/10 (3 May 2004)

Kudos to the marketing department of Van Helsing. There was so much hype has been generated for this movie that it was in my must-watched films. Superb posters showing Hugh Jackman and Kate Beckinsale in stylish best, great suspenseful trailers. Even the movie premiere was aptly timed with a full moon.
If only the movie was just as good as the marketing department.
Even an almost-bare bodied Jackman and corset-wrapped Beckinsale could not save the movie. Set in the late 19th century when vampires, werewolves, gnomes and the Frankenstein monster roamed, Van Helsing was a cross between League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and James Bond, but less camp, less ingenious, more bore. The 2 hours and 15 minutes were filled with razzle-dazzle effects and cheap scare tactics, mostly found in B-grade movies. The worst were the out-of-the-world swinging around a rope -- makes you wonder if director Stephen Sommers had been watching too much Spiderman.
The saving grace came in the form of David Welham. As a loyal friar friend to Jackman's Van Helsing character, Welham was earnest and lovable. But for the rest of the cast, zombies probably had better lines and emotion range.