Van Helsing

[Desdichado]

I'm soooo lookin' forward to watchin' this. A lot of people have said bad reviews etc. but, man, this looks as though it's gonna kick ass!

Roger Ebert gave it a good review. I think this is the kind of movie that if you liked the recent Mummy movies (same writer/director) then you'll probably like this for the same reasons.

 

[shilsen]

I just read a review of the film which mentioned that Jackman is playing "Gabriel" Van Helsing. Gabriel? I admit that it's been a while since I've read the book, but isn't it Abraham?

Okay, in the book, Van Helsing was an old man and nothing like the action hero portrayed in the flm (no to mention that the book doesn't mention the Wolfman or Frankenstein's Monster), so I'm willing to make concessions. However, the name change does seem strange. It's kind of like the Hammer films adaption of Jekyll & Hyde (I, Monster) in which they kept the names of all the other characters except Jekyll & Hyde who for some reason became Marlowe & Blake (I think).

However, it did make me wonder if he's actually supposed to be playing the same Van Helsing or one of his relative (kind of like the Belmont clan of the Castlevania games). Any mention of this in the film?

I always assumed he's supposed to be an ancestor of Abraham Van Helsing. Am I wrong?

 

[Klaus]

For quite some time now my wife has said she wants to play a swashbuckling-type, gypsy-like character. Kate Beckinsale's character just _IS_ the character she envisioned.

So yes, I'm looking forward to seeing VH. And so is my wife (yay!).

 

[RangerWickett]

If they just called it Castlevania the movie, I'd probably be giving it less of a hard time. He'd need a whip of course, though.

 

[Mercule]

However, it did make me wonder if he's actually supposed to be playing the same Van Helsing or one of his relative (kind of like the Belmont clan of the Castlevania games). Any mention of this in the film?

It's my understanding that Gabriel is supposed to be Abraham's "younger brother" or some such. I'm also given to understand that the name change had more to do with the studio wanting to control some finer details of intellectual property or some such.

*shrug*

Whatever. I've already fully dissociated it from Bram Stoker or anything similar. It is its own universe.

Still looks fun, though.

 

[reapersaurus]

Van Helsing rocks on toast.

I've seen a couple bad "reviews", and they really are hardly reviews.
What review would think it's a revelation to tell you the movie "is cheesy, badly-acted CGI-filled, popcorn movie with no depth"?

Well... DUH.
Why do they think so many people are standing in line to see it?

I swear, there is a disconnect between many reviewers (and moviegoers) about modern action/effects movies.
What some people see as bad, is simply not a problem with millions of people wanting to see a great adventure.
We don't care about somewhat-hammy dialogue.
We don't care if the actors "over-act."
We don't care if there are tons of effects that "you know aren't real."
We don't care if there not a huge character-driven story-arc, with lots of double-meanings and complexity.

We want a movie that's full of action and adventure, and monsters, and gorgeous people doing things you can't do in real life.

Van Helsing delivers those goods more than any moive in recent memory. It is really the pinnacle of popcorn monster movies to date, IMO.

If you at all liked The Mummy, or Tomb Raider, or Underworld, or LXG, do yourself a favor and see Van Helsing right away - it is EXACTLY what you'll enjoy seeing.

And Djeta - wait until you see the party scene (that Hypersmurf spoiler'ed).
My wife was going ape-. Truly the highlight of the movie for her.

 

[Thanee]

I just read a review of the film which mentioned that Jackman is playing "Gabriel" Van Helsing. Gabriel? I admit that it's been a while since I've read the book, but isn't it Abraham?

It's simply a completely different person, that shares the same family name and the fact, that he hunts vampires (among others).

All the famous characters in the movie are not how you know them, not precisely. Well, just watch the movie and you'll see...

It's really what makes the movie so cool IMHO.

When I first heard about the movie, I thought... Wow, cool, a van Helsing movie!
Then I read some teasers and thought... Frankenstein's monster... WTH ?!?
Then I saw the movie and thought... Wow, cool!

Bye
Thanee

 

[Thanee]

@Djeta: Yes, the costumes are really, really cool.

@Hypersmurf: Yeah, that was a great scene!

Spoiler

Quite unexpected, too.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Crothian]

I thought it was okay, but it did turn out better then I thought. They got Mr Hyde wrong, just like everyone does. THe special effects were not that good, they were obvious, I like my CGI to be a bit more seemless. They also had too much hulking monsters, not a fan of that. It's overdone and looks bad. Frank;s Monster though did very well, I actually liked him and thought they did a good job representing him. THe movies was a bit obvious, only the scene talked about above suprised me.

 

[Thanee]

Yeah, Mr Hide really was... overdone...

Spoiler

Mr Hide actually also was the hunchback (quasimodo) or not? Wasn't that Notre Dame where they fought?

Bye
Thanee