Great intro

Rating: 7/10 (5 February 2005)

Wenham: Why is it so important to kill this Dracula? Jackman: Because he's the son of the Devil. Wenham: I mean, besides that... Methinks reports of this movie's lack of quality were overstated. Jackman is a monster-hunter hired in 1880 by the Catholic Church (!!) to travel to Transylvania and take out Count Dracula. Serendipity's Beckinsale is a very attractive and very feisty Transylvanite who's been trying the same on her own without success. Wexham (Lord of the Ring's Faramir) is Jackman's assistant along for some comic relief. If you imagine Jackman as a more talky, continental Clint Eastwood you're pretty close. They have the right concept, the right characters and the right effects (AND the right weapons for Jackman, including an automatic crossbow!), they just didn't seem to have much of a clue on what to do with them after the first 30 minutes. So they just sort of mindlessly recycle confrontations after that point. It's hard to even keep up with things except to become certain that more (often hokey) action isn't always better. You do wonder how many more times Beckinsale can bounce off the walls and still be fine. But I guess it could have been worse and I give them some credit for setting the table so nicely.