Dir.
Stephen Sommers, 2004, USA , 135 mins
Cast:
Hugh Jackman, Kate Beckinsale, Richard Roxburgh, David Wenham
It is 1878 and the feared and reviled hunter of evil, Van Helsing (Jackman), is sent by a secretive organisation within the Vatican to rid Transylvania of the infamous Count Dracula (Roxburgh). Accompanying him is the cowardly friar, Carl (Wenham), charged with protecting Helsing through his knowledge of weaponry and books. Once they arrive in the fear stricken land they quickly meet the headstrong Anna Valerious (Beckinsale), the last of a powerful Royal family annihilated by centuries of battle against Dracula. As the quest to destroy the vampire and his hordes becomes ever more complicated, Helsing is further tested by battling not only a Werewolf, but also Frankenstein's monster.
Stephen Sommer's (The Mummy, The Mummy Returns) film begins well, with a prologue that acts as a visually satisfying black and white homage to James Whale's 1930's Frankenstein. Here the style and atmosphere of the early Universal monster film is captured successfully - replete with angry village mob and a burning wooden windmill. The significant difference is that Dracula is instigating Dr. Frankenstein's experiments for his own nefarious needs. Sadly, from this high point the film descends into a clichéd, confused, mess.
The film's main problem is the confusion of the many plot lines caused by the "wouldn't it be cool to put in all the classic Universal monsters" approach adopted by Sommers. Classic characters' mythologies are raised, linked, dropped and desecrated in a mish-mash story that leaves the audience perplexed as to why they should care. Frankenstein's monster's involvement in an ill-conceived plot device to bring Dracula's spawn to life is a case in point. The script tries to connect too many disparate stories, and at the same time falls victim to Hollywood 's tendency to try to explain-away everything and everyone (which sits uneasily with a story based in the world of the supernatural).
The Van Helsing at the centre of the film is very different from his previous incarnations, younger and more macho. His back-story is suspiciously similar to that of Jackman's most famous role, Wolverine in the X-men films: a feared hero with superhuman skills, but with no knowledge of his own past or identity. Also notable is the name change from the original Abraham, to Gabriel - seemingly for legal reasons (so the production company could hold certain money spinning rights to the character) and so the filmmakers could take frankly far-fetched liberties with the character's link to Dracula. That said Hugh Jackman does make the most of the vampire hunter's rather limited and one dimensional persona; the interplay between him and David Wenham injects as much wit as the lack lustre script will allow, and provides the only (intentional) humour.
Van Helsing's CGI visual effects have been much lauded, and are very impressive. The sequences involving Dracula's flying vampire brides, and the brilliantly realised Werewolf transformations are especially effective. The film looks very expensive, and the production design is obviously of a high standard (though at times certain effects seem oddly 2D). Yet without a coherent plot or characters we care about, the effects, however hard they try, do not succeed to excite as they should.
Kate Beckinsale as the predictably headstrong love interest, looks the part, but acts indifferently. The chemistry between the two leads barely exists, and is stifled at every turn by the weak dialogue. Richard Roxburgh, so good in Moulin Rouge, is woefully underused - as is the cinematic gold of the character Dracula, who becomes, like the film itself, swallowed up by exposition, plot 'twists', and over-bearing CGI. Despite it's promising and well executed opening, Van Helsing goes on to lack any real excitement or tension; for a blockbuster featuring so many classic movie monsters it is a shame it fails to make the audience jump more than once.
Paul Nash
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