It's Another Sommers Film

Rating: 7/10 (29 October 2004)

Van Helsing is the latest installment of Steven Sommers. It is not about curses or mummies, but has the same general hokiness and camp that I expect from the movies he's directed so far. Partially the delivery and feeling is due to the actors. The movie wouldn't have worked if they'd taken it seriously. The whole point of movies such as this are the delivery of the lines, and how well it's written, if it doesn't make you giggle or at least smile, then the movie hasn't done it's job. Van Helsing is not the best Steven Sommers has done, but for the most part it delivers.
Reviewers said there were too many special effects, too many sequences devoted to action. The answer is yes, there are too many. This movie tends to suffer from "I have too much money to burn through let's use it all." One of the charms of The Mummy was the fact that there was one threat and the good guys had to deal with it. Special effects were used only for when the mummy was rebuilding itself and the minions fighting Brendan Fraser's character. The rest of the movie properly had a love story with the action.
Sommers should have left it at that with Van Helsing. The characters are interesting, he brings up good mystery with Van Helsing by giving him a past he doesn't know. But just as we might get too interested, the movie is over-run with too many plots. And, though I hate to say this, too much action.
I enjoy action sequences as much as the next, but I like to see some better reason for them. The point of action is to be paced well, like all good things there must be some respite for the watcher as well as the character. Is there a reason why he does what he does? Or a love story in Van Helsing? Definitely there are hints of attraction, but that's pretty much as far as it goes for the guy. Why? because he can never catch a break when fighting bad guys.
Overall the acting is well done, what there is of it, with overtones from the other films that each of the actors have been in. There are also the inevitable echoes of The Mummy, especially whenever Kevin J. O'Connor is on screen.
So, should you see this movie? Yes it's a wonderful thing for an otherwise empty night, and if you're an old horror movie fan, or just love Young Frankenstein, then you'll love the opening sequence. Done in black and white it provides a tone, where, if you're not careful, you might reminisce about for the rest of the show.