WolfMontana wrote:

I personally enjoyed the flick, but recognized it's ridiculousness. Still, made me happy seeing Hugh Jackman get fuzzy

What you said!

I'm surprised to hear so many people didn't like it. I personally loved it! I think I borrowed it from our neighbor when I first watched it. Shortly after that it was on my B-Day list. ^^
I just loved the whole thing! The plot was good (though really not that great), and it had humor, and of course the werewolves looked friggen amazing! X3
The only real beef I had with the wolves was that their arms were kinda too ape-ish, and they were tail-less. O.O
Personally I perfer tails on my werewolfies, but it's different to all I recon (and at least they gave it the dignity of having hair unlike the HP werewolf!!! D: ).
Oh, and the vamps and Frankenstein's monster were great too.

Recently re-watched this film, and I find it enjoyable. And I guess I'm the only person on the planet who doesn't particularly care for Kate Beckinsale (her acting or her looks), after watching both this film and Underworld. Though I'll give her credit that I really didn't notice it was her until it was pointed out. It was mainly that accent that really put me off (of identifying her, or possibly liking the character)..

I still think it has the best looking werewolves on film (if lacking tails), and as much I prefer practical effects, I really don't think they could've gotten away without using CG given the creature design and its movements.

My main issues with the movie mostly dealt with the theatrics, and story compression (time flows very awkwardly in this movie, and it would've been a lot more poignant if the various story elements were better fleshed out). Like when Anna and Velkin are attempting to kill the first werewolf. Okay, the werewolf falls into a pit trap, which has a bag and cage. Okay, the bag and cage has a pully system that lifts it up. On the way up, the top of the cage hits Anna's feet and she does a backflip. Wait, what? Absolutely no point at all to it.. she just stands there, touches the cage with her feet, and does a backflip. And as much as Anna gets knocked into trees, falls onto branches and rooftops, against brick walls, she's able to maintain her composure surprisingly well and barely get a scratch, if not make a 10-point landing (though a pimp slap from a woman knocks her on her ass).

Also, the whole rope-swinging scene in Dracula's castle.. it defies all known laws of physics (note: when you swing downward, you don't end up in a room up near the same level that you started at). The whole movie had very volatile weather patterns, too.. switching from rain to snow to clear and back at the drop of a hat (not sure if this should go under story/time compression, or theatrics; probably both).


What I liked about the movie, besides the werewolf design, were the visual effects in general. I remember thinking how well the CGI blended with the live action (a rare feat, even today), and it's still enjoyable to look at, even if noticeably dated. I liked the performances given by Dracula, Carl and Igor, even if they acted more like caricatures than characters (Velkin, Dr. Frankenstein, and Frankenstein's Monster, who also had good performances, are the only ones in the film that acted like actual characters really, IMO). The first scene was also really well done. It gave a feeling of old horror movies, but still was obviously modern. Dr. Frankenstein's fear and skittishness came across well, especially with how Dracula was moving "impossibly" from one place to another. And it worked as a nice springboard for what the plot was supposed to be. If only the story had room to bring out the plot and not trip over itself. The ending battle was also very fun to watch (can't complain about a good looking werewolf laying the smack-down on a vampire).. only marred by Van Helsing getting cured and turning back human.

Overall, it's a good movie to ogle at the werewolves, with some nice action if you can turn off your brain. A lot of wasted potential, that I wonder may have turned up in the novelization (was there one?).

Last edited by KCat (2010-03-05 07:47:09)

Having read the book, it unfortunately shed little light on the rather weak plot for the movie. It doesn't reveal who Gabriel Van Helsing is. It doesn't reveal why Dracula is ONLY able to be killed by werewolves. The book basically retells the movie, but with a bit more detail. Van Helsing is a fun movie, but like many have already said, you really start getting annoyed when you consider what it COULD have been.

Personally, I've got good memories of the movie. It's been awhile since I watched it though, so I'd have to check it out again to remember all the specifics. However, I do remember that, in my opinion at least, the werewolves looked pretty awesome, and the final fight between Dracula and Van Helsing was extremely kickass. I don't think I had any problems with the acting, but I may need to check it out again before I say for certain...

The important fact about Van Helsing is that its genre is action instead of terror, I mean, from that point of view the werewolf can be considered "cool" . It fulfills its purpose perfectly.
And yes, I enjoyed it as an "action movie".

Yeah, the Van Helsing werewolves were way too cartoony. Werewolves should not bounce around like giant ping pong balls, nor should they suddenly float up in the air like helium balloons as they shapeshift. Seriously, WTF was up with that?!?

Van Heising was released in 2004. It was greatest vampire movie I ever saw. I like the movie very much. I Enjoy every section of the movie.
I saw this movie more than twice times.  The movie got best reviews form the people. Many people like the movie very much.

I like the werewolves, despite the physics being way off. I just thought the werewolves looked much better in Van Helsing than in older werewolf movies. They looked more like bipedal wolves than pathetic hairy humans with fangs.

I don't mind the look of the werewolves in Van Helsing. I know they were cartoony, but most of the movie was that way to begin with.

It is a pretty stupid movie 90% of the time, though, I will give you that

Last edited by Totalimmortal (2010-08-26 21:19:53)