Rate Van Helsing
- Thread starter Krug
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buzzard
First Post
reapersaurus said:
Hmm, I'm a fan of the genre. I've seen it. I was looking for a zero to put as my rating. That movie was utterly horrible.
As for thinking of a better action monster movie, well Aliens, the Mummy, the Thing, do you need more? There are plenty of movies far better than this one.
buzzard
7 - I enjoyed it but it had some slow points and they over did the computer graphics, which were good but too overboard.
barsoomcore
Unattainable Ideal
I gave it a four.
Steven Sommers can do better than this. It was much worse than The Mummy or even The Mummy Returns. The plot holes were just too huge to overlook, the lack of characterization kept me from engaging and it just got too complicated -- which was a problem not because I couldn't follow the story but because they kept having characters explain things as they happened which got tedious fast.
I felt myself unable to sustain my involvement in the movie as the stagecoach chase progressed. That's where it really started to go off the rails for me. And things just got worse and worse from there on.
It's too bad. I really enjoyed the opening twenty-thirty minutes. There just wasn't any heart to it, and I need that in a movie if I'm really going to enjoy myself.
The creature effects were GREAT, and many of the landscape shots were very cool. The climactic battle was awful (compare with the final fight in The Mummy Returns) -- if that had delivered I'd've upped my rating by a couple of points I'm sure, but it was just watching a couple of cartoon characters move around on the screen. Lame.
Not sorry I saw it, and recommended for fans of monster movies, but definitely sub-par.
(cracks knuckles, waits for reaper to launch his attack)
Steven Sommers can do better than this. It was much worse than The Mummy or even The Mummy Returns. The plot holes were just too huge to overlook, the lack of characterization kept me from engaging and it just got too complicated -- which was a problem not because I couldn't follow the story but because they kept having characters explain things as they happened which got tedious fast.
I felt myself unable to sustain my involvement in the movie as the stagecoach chase progressed. That's where it really started to go off the rails for me. And things just got worse and worse from there on.
It's too bad. I really enjoyed the opening twenty-thirty minutes. There just wasn't any heart to it, and I need that in a movie if I'm really going to enjoy myself.
The creature effects were GREAT, and many of the landscape shots were very cool. The climactic battle was awful (compare with the final fight in The Mummy Returns) -- if that had delivered I'd've upped my rating by a couple of points I'm sure, but it was just watching a couple of cartoon characters move around on the screen. Lame.
Not sorry I saw it, and recommended for fans of monster movies, but definitely sub-par.
(cracks knuckles, waits for reaper to launch his attack)
Capellan
Explorer
I rated it a 6. To paraphrase a friend (arwink, actually): "It's ninety minutes of entertainment in a two hour film."
David Wenham was great, there were some cool visual scenes ... but most of the movie was a confused hodge-podge, Richard Roxbrough was badly mis-directed as Dracula and as for Kate Beckinsale ... she's gorgeous, but the sooner she realises she is totally godawful as an action star, the better. Utterly unconvincing throughout the film.
And don't get me started on Dracula's Castle, and its rooms that apparently move up and down like elevators.
David Wenham was great, there were some cool visual scenes ... but most of the movie was a confused hodge-podge, Richard Roxbrough was badly mis-directed as Dracula and as for Kate Beckinsale ... she's gorgeous, but the sooner she realises she is totally godawful as an action star, the better. Utterly unconvincing throughout the film.
And don't get me started on Dracula's Castle, and its rooms that apparently move up and down like elevators.
theburningman
First Post
I gave it a five. My eyes didn't bleed while I was watching it, but I won't be renting or buying it later.
Like I said on the other thread, I can't decide if it was 1/2 hour too long, or 2 1/2 hours too long.
Like I said on the other thread, I can't decide if it was 1/2 hour too long, or 2 1/2 hours too long.
Kai Lord
Hero
I gave it an 8. This movie rocked, I loved it. 
Good, clean monster fun. Blew away both Mummy movies by a *long shot*. The monsters were cool, the effects were cool for the most part (and what the hell was up with Mr. Hyde, those were Gollum quality effects!), Jackman was well suited for the part and Beckinsale was absolutely stunning.
The story was all over the place but fun. I think its funny that clouds blocking the moon made werewolves change back into humans, but going inside buildings didn't have the same effect.
And a little more exposition on just how being "the Left Hand of God" allowed Van Helsing to live 400 years would have been nice, but it was just a terrific rollercoaster ride.
The opening black and white prologue was great, Van Helsing's establishing "bad ass" scene vs. Mr. Hyde was amusing and fun, and I think the sweeping pan around Kate as she drew her sword for the first time may just be my new favorite scene in cinema history.
A number of effects shots didn't work (the compositing of Van Helsing swinging down to grab Anna at the costume ball was *horrible*) but the ones that really mattered did. I loved how powerful they made the Wolfmen, and the sound effects in the final battle really went a long way toward selling the scene. And I'm always a sucker for Return of the Jedi-style cross cutting between multiple climactic fights.
I did burst out laughing after the Wolfman made his second long fall into a river followed by a tiny splash and my friend Mike said, "Holy crap, the Wolfman's Wile E. Coyote!"
There was a lot in the movie that was definitely goofy (the Transylvanian horses were *so* fast they even warranted the red Indiana Jones style line across the map...whoa, now *those* are badass horses!)
But it was all in good fun. A matinee showing well worth the price of admission, and I'll probably see it again before buying it the day it comes out on DVD.
I wonder what monsters will show up in the sequel.
Good, clean monster fun. Blew away both Mummy movies by a *long shot*. The monsters were cool, the effects were cool for the most part (and what the hell was up with Mr. Hyde, those were Gollum quality effects!), Jackman was well suited for the part and Beckinsale was absolutely stunning.The story was all over the place but fun. I think its funny that clouds blocking the moon made werewolves change back into humans, but going inside buildings didn't have the same effect.
And a little more exposition on just how being "the Left Hand of God" allowed Van Helsing to live 400 years would have been nice, but it was just a terrific rollercoaster ride.
The opening black and white prologue was great, Van Helsing's establishing "bad ass" scene vs. Mr. Hyde was amusing and fun, and I think the sweeping pan around Kate as she drew her sword for the first time may just be my new favorite scene in cinema history.
A number of effects shots didn't work (the compositing of Van Helsing swinging down to grab Anna at the costume ball was *horrible*) but the ones that really mattered did. I loved how powerful they made the Wolfmen, and the sound effects in the final battle really went a long way toward selling the scene. And I'm always a sucker for Return of the Jedi-style cross cutting between multiple climactic fights.
I did burst out laughing after the Wolfman made his second long fall into a river followed by a tiny splash and my friend Mike said, "Holy crap, the Wolfman's Wile E. Coyote!"
There was a lot in the movie that was definitely goofy (the Transylvanian horses were *so* fast they even warranted the red Indiana Jones style line across the map...whoa, now *those* are badass horses!)
But it was all in good fun. A matinee showing well worth the price of admission, and I'll probably see it again before buying it the day it comes out on DVD.I wonder what monsters will show up in the sequel.
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