A Different kind of Hell

Rating: 6/10 (25 June 2005)

Although I'm a fan of Hugh Jackman, (and yes, I HAVE seen other films besides the X-Men movies) I was thoroughly disappointed in Van Helsing. Oh, I could have seen the warning signs ahead of time, One of the more famous literary characters of all time transformed into bounty hunter (No, I haven't seen League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) and featuring creatures not seen in any Dracula story, but Hey! I was going to give this one the old college try. And, yes, by gum! I should have stuck to my guns, because this film is just plain awful. Oh sure, it's pretty to look at, and has a lot of neat special effects, but while it maybe dazzling to look at, they forgot to blue screen one important element and that's plausibility. Time after time, there are instances where I was like, how on earth did they know that was going to happen? Like when the Kate Beckensdale first meets Van Helsing, she has'nt a clue who he is, then after he's done his business, she all of a sudden knows who he is. Implausability after implausibility (the dual carriage scene? Hello?) happen, and by the end, I was like, "Yeah, whatever".