Highly entertaining - for all the wrong reasons.

Rating: Null/10 (27 July 2004)

My gamut of emotions while watching this movie went from interested, to confused, then to disgusted, then finally to amused. This movie is so hokey and over-the-top that I finally gave up making any sense of it and spent the last hour laughing. Van Helsing is low-brow Hollywood flash at its worst; a lot of fancy CGI effects with the barest minimum attempt to give the characters any, well, 'character'. Van Helsing himself reminded me of some room-temperature IQed Fabio wannabee who thought his looks would get him through any situation.
However, I must say I did like the new twist the director put on Frankenstein's character. Instead of a lumbering, semi-aware goon that he's usually portrayed as, Van Helsing showed him to be a wise and highly intelligent creature with a quick mind and a sharp tongue (although somewhat grumpy and antisocial). They should do a sequel with him as the star.