Written and directed by Stephen Sommers, who also wrote and directed The Mummy. It shows, only not as witty. I think he took on more than he could handle with this project. I also think if anyone should be nailed for being a copycat on some plot elements, this is the guy.
The Good:
Good cinematography and artistic style. Great action scenes and special effects. My favorite action scene was when Van Helsing fought Dr. Jeckyl/Mr. Hyde at the beginning of the film. That was pretty fun.
Hugh Jackman was fairly decent. Either he phoned in this performance or Hugh really isn't that versatile an actor. I was waiting for his Wolverine claws to pop out. His adoring women and gay fans swooned collectively (counting my wife as one of his women fans and a gay couple we saw the film with) in the theater when he wore only torn pants (looked like Tarzan) for one moment in the film.
Kate Beckinsale was great and gave a good effort. Of course, she had me in Underworld.
At least Somers hires great females for his roles - I love Rachel Weis from The Mummy just as much as Kate. David Wenham - Played Carl, a friar in the Vatican. Now this is an actor with range. He was Faramir in LoTR-Two Towers/Return of the King. He was the comic relief of the film. He was the 1886 version of James Bond's Q. Best actor in the film by far.
Shuler Hensley - Unknown actor, but played the Frankenstein monster very interestingly. Again, purists may hate his portrayal, but I found it an interesting new slant on the character. I thought he did a great job.
The Bad
Story was pretty scattered - connotations of The Matrix (you'll know if you see the film) and James Bond flicks resounded. Purists of the Dracula/Frankenstein/Wolfman lore will be unhappy with the film. We saw the movie with one. He was very pissed.
Richard Roxburgh - Miscasting fiasco - His portrayal of Dracula was awful. He's a decent actor, though. Whether the fault lied with the director, casting director, writer or the actor himself, this was a major detraction from the film. Oh heck, I'll blame the lot of them. He was good as Moriarty in League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
Kevin J. O'Connor - The guy who played Igor was so heavily made up but you couldn't mistake the same whiny obscure foreign accent as the whiny obscure foreign accented Beni from The Mummy (the one who gets shut in the tomb room with all the scarabs towards the end of the flick. Although much funnier in The Mummy, he did have a few good lines in Van Helsing.
After hearing the reviews and expecting it to be so bad as fun to watch, I was still entertained. Yet, there were some excruciatingly cheesy moments (especially toward the end).
Still, I was entertained. I'm just not sure why. Oh, I remember now - Kate Beckinsale!
