Van Helsing (2004)

★★
This is one noisy movie. For almost the entire film, we're subjected to screeching, snarling, growling, thumping and yelling. When that's not happening, we get a pounding soundtrack to even things out. I had higher hopes for Van Helsing. I really liked 2003's Underworld, and I figured this movie would be of the same ilk. It isn't. Whereas last year's vampire movie depended more on style, plot, dialogue and acting, this movie is more concerned with crushing special effects and a loud soundtrack. These two qualities are so prevailing that an interesting story has difficulty emerging from the rubble.

Both films are gothic in appearance, and vampires play integral roles in their stories. Kate Beckinsale starred in both. Stephen Sommers, the writer and director, is a talented filmmaker, as he demonstrated with The Mummy, but this time he allowed his better senses to take a back seat to wider box office appeal. With Hugh Jackman in the starring role and Beckinsale on hand to attract admirers of Underworld, Sommers probably thought that would be enough. Someone should have told him otherwise.

Van Helsing (Jackman) is the world's greatest monster hunter, ranking somewhere above Simon Belmont from the Castlevania games. When we first meet him, he's tracking down Mr. Hyde, a brawny C.G.I. monster imported from The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. When that's finished, the Vatican offers him a new assignment. He must travel to Transylvania, where Count Dracula is up to his old tricks. In addition to that, Van Helsing might uncover some of his shady past. Van Helsing accepts, but before departing, he enters a workshop that can only be described as a 19th century version of Q Branch, complete with silly inventions and demonstrations for our amusement.

In Transylvania, Van Helsing teams up with Anna Valerious (Beckinsale), whose name sounds like a disease. A roll call of movie monsters are featured, including werewolves, Frankenstein's monster and zombies. Then there's Dracula himself (Richard Roxburgh), who is searching for the secret to life so that his dormant children, several hundred of them, can awaken.

There's lots of action, close-calls, chases and humor, and while I normally like all that stuff in a movie, I couldn't bring myself to appreciate what this movie had to offer because the plot progression moves intermittently. We get C.G.I. action, then a little story, then more action, then more story, and so on. I could enjoy a movie with this kind of structure, but the story simply lies partially buried, never fully emerging but rather just peeking out every now and then. At the end, the pace quickens, and Dracula's intent becomes clearer, and only then did I perk up to watch the proceedings.

The movie looks first-rate, and the performances are very good. Hugh Jackman is a strong lead and is perfect as the conflicted vampire hunter. He's physically adept and quick-thinking. Kate Beckinsale never really develops as an interesting character. She was better in Underworld, but again, that movie had more going for it. Richard Roxburgh, on the other hand, is excellent as Count Dracula. He's no Bela Lugosi, but he still evokes a character lacking mercy and decency well enough. The Transylvania countryside looks eerie, as if monsters are hiding just beyond eyesight. A lot of effort went to the movie's look, but not enough to the script.

Van Helsing ranks in the lower echelon of summer blockbusters. It's not a bad movie, just a misguided one. There are good things to say about its outer shell, but immediate appearances alone can't save the day.

© 2004 Silver Screen Reviews