I thought I was watching Moulin Rouge!

Rating: Null/10 (7 May 2004)

I am not a movie critic. Critics get paid to say unkind things about movies or to pick it apart and dissect it until there is nothing remaining that remotely resembles the movie. When I go to a movie I actually try to enjoy it, but I was disappointed with Van Helsing.
I love Jackman and Beckinsale because they made it tolerable and at times enjoyable. I did not like the tongue-in-cheek attitude of the screenplay that I found to be too plagiaristic to get excited about; case in point, Mr Hyde. The Hyde character was stolen directly from League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and only served to introduce Van Helsing. Many other elements were borrowed for this movie but I will not list them here, you will have to see the movie and count them for yourselves.
The screenplay was so similar to Moulin Rouge at some points I wondered when everyone was going to break out in song! Writer, Director, Producer, Steven Sommers seemed to know what he wanted but was just unable to pull it off. I think Sommers talents are better suited to the small screen.
There were some intriguing and creative new ideas about the classic monsters we all grew up with and I applaud Sommers Creativity. But while this originality allowed me to keep my seat, the predictability of this formula piece kept me from enjoying the movie as much as I wanted to. I rate the movie 5 out of 10 stars.