Movie Review #7 - Van Helsing
Dec. 3rd, 2006 09:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
catalyst2I have to say that I approached this movie with a great deal of trepidation given the vitriol poured on it by some people. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised.
First check of the watch - not sure exactly but it was less than an hour
First of all, the acting was generally good - Hugh Jackman, David Wenham, Richard Roxborough, Robbie Coltrane, even Kate Beckinsale, all put in solid if unspectacular performances. CGI was very good throughout, only a couple of times did perspectives get so distorted that the "Huh, look at the CGI!" thought popped into my head. The monsters were spectacular - the Wolfman's transition gets a special mention here - and some of the set pieces - the town square "repeater-crossbow" and the birth of the "spawn" in the giant hall - were truly impressive.
If I could criticise it, it would be that monsters seemed to be there for the sake of being there, given that we've got Drac, Frankie and Wolfie all in the same movie. I was just waiting for Godzilla, the Mummy and King Kong and we would have had all the big guns in the one movie! It sort of left itself nowhere to go, having all those monsters in one - but perhaps that was their intention after all? Weakest point was the plot - of which there was not so much.
Having said that, this was a roller-coaster ride of a movie (actually, when I think about it, maybe that *is* my criticism of this movie after all - everything whizzed past so fast that nothing got more than a fleeting moment and then we whizzed off to the next thing). Certainly not a scary movie in any way, shape or form - more like a thriller in a horror setting but not a bad film at all, all things considered.
First check of the watch - not sure exactly but it was less than an hour
First of all, the acting was generally good - Hugh Jackman, David Wenham, Richard Roxborough, Robbie Coltrane, even Kate Beckinsale, all put in solid if unspectacular performances. CGI was very good throughout, only a couple of times did perspectives get so distorted that the "Huh, look at the CGI!" thought popped into my head. The monsters were spectacular - the Wolfman's transition gets a special mention here - and some of the set pieces - the town square "repeater-crossbow" and the birth of the "spawn" in the giant hall - were truly impressive.
If I could criticise it, it would be that monsters seemed to be there for the sake of being there, given that we've got Drac, Frankie and Wolfie all in the same movie. I was just waiting for Godzilla, the Mummy and King Kong and we would have had all the big guns in the one movie! It sort of left itself nowhere to go, having all those monsters in one - but perhaps that was their intention after all? Weakest point was the plot - of which there was not so much.
Having said that, this was a roller-coaster ride of a movie (actually, when I think about it, maybe that *is* my criticism of this movie after all - everything whizzed past so fast that nothing got more than a fleeting moment and then we whizzed off to the next thing). Certainly not a scary movie in any way, shape or form - more like a thriller in a horror setting but not a bad film at all, all things considered.
