Good characters, fun film

Rating: 5/10 (16 June 2004)

Its over the top with some crazy fantasy put in to boot. Decent accent by Kate Beckinsale only, Hugh sounds a cross between Harrison Ford and Hugh Grant and his sidekick is a fleshed out C3PO.
Stephen Sommers has had a memorable stab at the thirties classics, including the obvious and the Bride of Frankenstein, although the most detailed character is the monster, a little more wouldn't go amiss. The trouble with the film is the high octane action with no room to breathe, like Die Another Day. The character I was most looking forward to was the The Wolfman, whom has a confusing storyline that with the fighting against Van Helsing becomes the rest of the films main suspense. A sham, because the mood could have handled a rest, creating a nest errie surrounding. The ending is like a scene from King Kong, a similarity with the end of T2 and a bit of a Tarzan Lookalike in there as well. The musical score is not hitting the target particularly the horse carriage scene. Generally the plot strengthens during the film, but not to make is a great one to watch. Unfortunately the film adapted a pure action flick rather than a restrained thriller, which giving the potential atmosphere would have been a real bloodsucking treat.