Good to chill out to

Rating: Null/10 (8 May 2004)

SPOILERS
Once upon a time Hollywood developed a love for the monster. With people like Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff, the monster movie thrived. Eventually however, this trend grew tiresome and lost it's appeal. In recent years the monsters have returned in their original book based forms. Branagth's "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein" and Oldman's "Bram Stoker's Dracula" were brilliant films because they introduced people to the true original stories. It was never going to be long though before Karloff's style of monster movie would return, and thus with this in mind, we are presented with "Van Helsing".
Gabriel Van Helsing, played by Hugh "Wolverine" Jackman, is one of the Church's greatest monster hunters. Sent by the Church on countless missions to stop the world's evil, Van Helsing is an intelligent fighter with a stupid hat. In his latest case, Van Helsing is sent to Transylvania to stop the evil Count Dracula. In his adventures Van Helsing encounters vampires, werewolves, Frankenstein's monster and the gorgeous Kate Beckinsale (albeit with an awful new accent).
First things first, I don't understand why people hate this movie. I remember going to see "The League Of [not so] extraordinary Gentlemen" last year and detesting it. Whilst that movie possessed an awful script and a dire cast (Connery in particular drove me to tears with a hideous performance), in "Van Helsing" I found myself really enjoying it.
Don't get me wrong, I'll admit from the start that an element of this movie is incredibly tacky. Ultimately though, I think it thrives past that. I went to see this movie with a fair bit of pessimism I'll confess. Whilst I do love what Hollywood did with the original monster movies, I'm a stickler for the originals and tend to dislike the idea of stories being rewritten. With this in mind I'd gone to see this with an element of caution. Paranoid of how they would portray Dracula and the Monster, I stepped in slowly expecting the worst. The thing is though that it's hard to hate this. Whilst I did feel that they ruined the Igor character, Sommers (director & writer) versions of Dracula and Frankenstein's monster felt fresh and intriguing. I sat, I watched, I enjoyed. Enough said really.
Truth be told, I'd recommend most people go to see this movie. I'll admit that it's not for everyone. A friend of mine tends to only watch movies which are character driven and with a lot of drama (top films are "American Beauty" and "The Green Mile"), and so to him I'd probably suggest he avoid this. To anyone who just feels the need to sit and relax at nighttime though, this movie has to be an option. Jackman is ok in this role, although I do wish there had been an alternative to completely rewriting the Van Helsing character from the mad old professor to the super hero, Beckinsale is good too, even with the awful accent. The monsters as well, Roxburgh as the camp Count makes for entertaining viewing, Hensley as Frankenstein's creation reminds me of Marvin the Paranoid Robot from "Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy" in the way that he seems to moan so much, and the CGI Wolfman impresses too.
In the end, it's difficult to condemn this movie (even though others have managed so successfully). I'll confess it is at times ridiculously camp, and at times it can make you groan in it's predictability and tacky nature, but it never feels like it is taking itself seriously. This movie's occasional tributes to other movies, it's throw away lines, it's disregard for Hollywood taboos, it just smacks of fun. Which is exactly what it is. If people want to moan about this movie, that's their choice, for me though, it's perfect mind numbing material.