Van Helsing

[Guest ScirosDarkblade]

I'm gonna go see this film because I think Hugh Jackman is totally awesome and is the next Harrison Ford (I apologize to Harrison Ford for even suggesting that he is replaceable, because he is not, but Jackman is as close as it'll get nevertheless).

But the director is the guy who did the Mummy and Mummy Returns films, and as fun as they were, they were STUPID AS HELL. Plot holes all over the place, inconsistencies that completely killed characterization, piss-poor special effects, etc. I enjoyed the Mummy films, but they're not real quality.

So I don't expect Van Helsing to be much more than a "Hugh Jackman: Monster Smasher" flick, but I do expect an enjoyable film.

Another concern I have is Kate Beckinsale's horrendous "Romanian" accent. Holy crap is it bad; it's different in every scene they show in the trailers. I hope it won't ruin the film as much as the seemingly shoddy special effects will.

Anyway, I'm still excited about it. Jackman is just really cool and Beckinsale is hot. I'm watching it for the actors, I guess.

[Zidargh]

I'll be more in the mood to see this once I have rented Underworld. This whole new theme about battles between different mythical races is something I'll have to settle into.

I did see the trailer and it does look very good. It's very interesting to see how directors portray characters that are very popular in our story-like world, such as Dracula and Frankenstein.

I'd have to agree with you about the whole Kate Beckinsale thing. After watching Pearl Harbour, I fell in love with her. I didn't actually know it was her that starred as the key-female character, so thanks for the information.

Hugh Jackman eh? I don't remember any of his films but I know the name. I have a strange feeling he starred as Zorro. It's his beard.

[Semjaza]

[quote name='Zidargh']Hugh Jackman eh? I don't remember any of his films but I know the name. I have a strange feeling he starred as Zorro. It's his beard.[/quote]

He's Wolverine in the X-Men films.

I'm mixed. This movie has the potential to bring down the Dracula, The Wolfman and Frankenstein properties if it is done poorly. I too am going in with some what low expectations based on the Mummy films. I don't expect it to suck horribly, but I do expect it to be a decently enjoyable popcorn flick. Little more than that, really. We'll see.

[Manic Webb]

[quote name='ScirosDarkblade']Another concern I have is Kate Beckinsale's horrendous "Romanian" accent. Holy crap is it bad; it's different in every scene they show in the trailers. I hope it won't ruin the film as much as the seemingly shoddy special effects will.[/quote]
Holy crap. That was supposed to be a Romanian accent? I didn't even notice she was trying to change her accent. Honest truth.

I saw several trailers and commercial spots for this movie over and over and over again at my job (I'm one of those people who stop you in the mall and show you movie trailers) last month. The more I watched it, the more I realized the special effects are [i]nothing[/i] to look forward to. Since this film is also going to squeeze in about 3 or 4 popular monsters as villains, I have a strong fear that the story is going to be a bit rushed. That is, unless they somehow make a big connection between Frankstein's monster, the Wolfman, and Dracula.

But if I could sit through [i]The 13th Warrior[/i] (a story that was good in novel form, but sucked much lollypop as a film), then I think I can enjoy [i]Van Helsing[/i]. That, and I'm already a fan of vampires and semi-fan of Mr. Jackman.

Didn't Hugh Jackman also co-star in [i]Swordfish[/i] alongside John Travolta and Halle Berry's obscenely expensive breasts?

[Guest ScirosDarkblade]

[QUOTE=Manic]I have a strong fear that the story is going to be a bit rushed. That is, unless they somehow make a big connection between Frankstein's monster, the Wolfman, and Dracula.
But if I could sit through [i]The 13th Warrior[/i] (a story that was good in novel form, but sucked much lollypop as a film), then I think I can enjoy [i]Van Helsing[/i]. That, and I'm already a fan of vampires and semi-fan of Mr. Jackman.
Didn't Hugh Jackman also co-star in [i]Swordfish[/i] alongside John Travolta and Halle Berry's obscenely expensive breasts?[/QUOTE]

They will make a connection between the monsters I think, but it'll probably be pretty weak. I'm sure the plot will be a bit rushed, but that won't be the film's downfall that's for sure.

The 13th Warrior was so wangtastic that it's almost a crime to mention it at all. I was so upset about losing two hours of my life having seen it...

Hugh Jackman IS the star of Swordfish, and if you ask me he was the only reason the movie was good (err, watchable rather; not good). Halle Berry was annoying as usual (boobs, who cares honestly) and Travolta was mediocre at best.

[Heaven's Cloud]

[quote name='ScirosDarkblade']Hugh Jackman IS the star of Swordfish, and if you ask me he was the only reason the movie was good (err, watchable rather; not good). Halle Berry was annoying as usual (boobs, who cares honestly) and Travolta was mediocre at best.[/quote]

[color=indigo]I know that I care about Halle Berry's boobs, they are incredible :p.

I want to see VanHellsing because I enjoy cheesy, kitchy action films and I am not really expecting the movie to be much more than that. The plot may be rushed, Kate Beckinsale may or may not have a pathetic accent, but at least the movie will be action packed and chalk full of special effects.

On a side note, I was hoping that Hugh Jackman would take over Brosnon's role as James Bond. He has that arrogant swagger that would make him a fitting 007.[/color]

[Dmitri_Dragoon]

I don't see Hugh Jackman as the next James Bond. He may have that swagger about him, but he just doesn't have that charismatic look. I believe he was made for movies where he looks more gruff and tough, rather than unable to bleed.

To me, Van Helsing looks to be a good movie. I agree the story will probably be rushed, unless they do a connection between Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, and the Wolfman.

In my opinion they should of done a trilogy type thing. A movie for each monster for him to face off against. But that would have cost more money and made more sense, so heaven forbide they do that.

[Guest ScirosDarkblade]

Hah. I think he'd make a great Bond. I think he has plenty of charisma, and in fact he's starred in romantic comedies and various plays and he's shown that he can handle those roles just fine. He's a pretty varied actor, and Bond would really be a walk in the park for him. I mean, it's not like Pierce Brosnan is even close the the level of actor that Jackman is. I hated Brosnan; if anyone doesn't have charisma, I think it's him.

Anyway, I'm really hoping Alan Silvestri gives this film a good score. Silvestri is very hit-and-miss. He's done some great stuff (Back to the Future) but he's done some mediocre stuff (The Mummy Returns). The music in the Van Helsing trailer is pretty good, so I'm hoping that's what we'll hear in the film (and the soundtrack).

[Xyandar]

When I first saw the previews of the movie, I almost screamed! It looks so good. I love dracula and the fact that there are even more demons put into that one movie makes me soo excited to see it! I dont know exactly what it is about but I am going to see th e trailer later and go and see it as soon as it is in theatres. I really cant wait!

[WW2]

When I first heard about the movie, I thought it was gonna be a pretty good movie since Van Helsing was such a great character in the original Dracula.

But as I saw more and more of the movie, I realised that they completely changed everything about the character. Van Helsing was an intelligent, doctor type, but now Hollywood seems to have turned him into a medevil batman with all sorts of gadgets.
Whatsupwithat? :therock:

Oh well, I'll probably go watch the movie anyways, just for the midless action. Mmmm, action. :tasty:

[Guest ScirosDarkblade]

He's not the same Van Helsing. I believe the doctor in the novel was Abraham Van Helsing. Jackman plays Gabriel Van Helsing, who might be a relative of the original character.

[Semjaza]

I read about him being another Van Helsing awhile back and that idea alone made me think even less of this film. I didn't think that was possible.

I've been reading impressions from people who have seen screenings of this movie and it's been pretty much universally panned. The whole setup makes next to zero sense and you can just tell they were straining to find reasons to include all three Universal classic monsters in the film. [spoiler]Dracula wants to bring his children to life, but apparently can only do so with lightning that travels through Frankenstein's monster for some bizarre reason... or some crap.[/spoiler]

While I once thought this would be a decent, mindless action flick that I'd blow $2 on at the cheap theater here... I now am just not interested whatsoever.

[Epitome]

[size=1]I am definatley going to have agree on the bring down part. But the other thing I dont like about the looks of the movie, is how they brought back old-aged characters such as Frankenstein, and put them in a new aged film. It just doesnt fit. Even though I am not huge fan of Helsing so I dont really know the plot.

But even so I do plan on seeing the movie and how it turns out...[/size]

[Guest ScirosDarkblade]

I'm glad it's not Abraham Van Helsing. It's much better that it's a different character. If it was Abraham Van Helsing then this film would ruin not 3 characters but 4. Also this way the story doesn't outright clash with Bram Stoker's Dracula.

As far as the plot goes, well I expect it to be absolute nonsense. I just like Hugh Jackman and hope he'll be cool enough to make this movie watchable.

[~*Lilith*~]

[font=bookantique][i]I am very into seeing this film only because it is so much cleaner and neat looking then Underworld. I never enjoyed Underworld much because it was way to chopy. However I think Van Hellsing will be a better adaption to the traditional ideal of what vampires are for this is not purely vampire film. The idea behind seems fasinating and I have to see it before making any other comments.[/i][/font]

[Guest ScirosDarkblade]

Well, I saw the film today, and I gotta say, it's ****. Total ****. It wasn't even the poor acting (NOT on Jackman's part, of course, he's good as usual) that ruined it. It was the absolutely atrocious special effects, and the nonsensical plot. Well I guess I expected both. I just didn't expect them to reach the level of crapulence that they did. Add to that horrendous dialogue, scenes that are so bad they made me laugh out loud ([spoiler]like when the knights in the painting start fighting, or when the horses jump the broken bridge, or when Van Helsing's mile-long grappling hook gets cut[/spoiler]), and some seriously BAD story ideas, and... ugh. One of the worst films I've seen in a while; the only one that was worse that I've seen within this past year is Timeline.

[SaiyanPrincessX]

I saw it yesterday. It was terrible. The whole thing seemed over done and dragged. I really had high hopes for it too. The one thing I did notice was the ammount of influence The Mummy movies made on Stephan Sommers. Two of the cast members were in the aswell. Kevin J. O' Conner(Beni in TM/[spoiler]Igor[/spoiler] in VH) & Alun Armstrong(the curator in TMR/[spoiler]Cardinal[/spoiler] in VH). I noticed this right away and found it to be true when I got home.

Alot of time and energy went into the visual imagery but I really think the acting and whole concept could have been done much better.

[Shinmaru]

Well, I think one of the major problems with the film was that it actually started taking itself seriously about midway through the movie and just faltered after that. At least before that it was campy and you could laugh along with it...it seemed like the movie realized it was going to be campy in the beginning and just went along with it, but suddenly decided to be serious out of the blue. That was just lame lol.

So, yeah, if it had stuck with the camp, I think it would have been decent (not amazing, but it wouldn't make me curse the fact that my family dragged me to see it), but as it is, it was not very good at all. It did make me laugh a lot (unintentionally, of course), so I'll give it that much.

[Shippou]

I say Van Hellsing the other day and it was pretty good. It had alot of genres of movies, there was action, mythology and humor. the only problem was the factof scientific inaccurasy's. Just for the record the air around lightnig is up to 2000 degrees celcius.If you were struck by it or evan if it was near you would burst into flalmes and a few other things that I do not have time to explain. but all in all it was a pretty good movie i would recomend it to all.

Shippou

[RainbowChick]

I'm looking forward to see Van Helsing even though I'm not expecting a great movie. True the plot will probably be rushed and it might ruin some great characters but I still want to see if it's any good. Although it's a bit disappointing with the whole romanian accent. I didn't even realize she had one untill I read this.

[DeathBug]

[color=indigo][size=1][font=comic sans ms]I went to see [i]Van Hellsing[/i] yesterday. I had no expectations for the film beyond monster fights. There were monster fights, and I was satisfied. The plot was weak, at best. I didn't like certain things done with some aspects of the movie ([spoiler]I'm sick of movies potraying Mr. Hyde as a physical brute....[/spoiler]) However, I also enjoyed picking up on little monster trivia minutia, such as the wolfman chant being the original from [i]The Wolfman[/i].

So.....I figure if you name your kid 'Van Hellsing', you're pretty much limiting his career paths later in life, huh? He could be a demon hunter, mad scientist, wizard...that's about it. It's like naming a kid 'Jeeves'; you know he'll be a butler.

The preceeding was the most interesting conversation that [i]Van Hellsing[/i] produced among my friends and I.[/color][/font][/size]

[NorykoAngelcry]

[COLOR=darkred][SIZE=1][FONT=Verdana]You guys REALLY need to stop expecting so much from action movies. . if you want something really artsy or dead on accurate, I think you are looking in the wrong place. . If you want to have some fun, go into the movie expecting to just have fun with it! I dont really want to get into any fight here, but to say that perhaps you guys set yourselves up for a fall? Whatever, each person is entitled to their own opinion.

I really enjoyed the movie. . on a 10pt scale, I give it a 9 out of 10. I had read many reviews prior to watching this movie, so I think I wasn't really expecting it to be any good. I was pleasantly surprised with how good it turned out. I really enjoyed the originality of the movie, mixing so many characters into a pretty good storyline. I guess I expected it to be Hugh Jackman vs. everyone. . but was happy that it was much more diverse then that. I was a little dissapointed in the lack of skill with Kate Beckinsale, but then again, she is just a human versus much stronger monsters. . The acting could have been a little better, but I didn't even really notice it. I of course enjoyed the special effects. I also liked 'Faramir' (from Lord of the Rings) as the Friar, and his comic relief served pretty well to pass some of the slower moments. I also liked 'Benny' (from Mummy) as Igor. . he was also a nice comic pace for the evil side of the movie.

I also enjoyed the characters of Dracula and Frankenstien. . both really seemed to just BE their characters, and I even sympathized a little bit with both, at different times. I of course loved how the Werewolf changed his shape, and was really surprised at Mr. Hyde's character, I didn't even expect him, but it of course made sense that he would be in there. I won't go on, for fear of spoiling anything. . just to further state how much I enjoyed this movie! ^_^ [/SIZE][/COLOR][/FONT]

[Shiguru]

Personally, I like Hugh Jackman but nobody could act in this movie. What happened to the depth he had from the characters he portrayed in theatre? Other than the watered down (But still totally awesome) Wolverine he hasn't been givin a role for him to shine in, and even in the X-Men movies he was out performed by noted and great actors like Patrick Stewart and Ian Mackellan (A man I have great respect for because of how he delt with the world.)

Now back to the movie, I liked it because I saw the Mummy movies, and they were retarded, but fun. I like campy movies, and I expected to go in there and be entertained and watch a retarded movie with some cool action scenes. I got what I excpected and thus, my money's worth.

However, for non-camp fans the film was horrible. Decent acting was nowhere to be found, the special effects were good (as was the editing.), but the characters were shallow (which may have been a primary reason Jackman failed.) and totally butchred from thier mythos.

But I enjoyed it, and the movie even had it's own little game. "Spot the scene stolen." There are several moments where Sommers (the director.) took moments from other films and just plastered them onto his own movie. Little things to full blown scenes that make you sigh in disgust. I saw a scenes from Batman, Bond films, Indiana Jones films, Return of the Jedi, LXG, Romancing the Stone and a few more.

on a 10 system I'd have a campy review of 8/10 and a normal review of maybe 5/10.

What is happening to action movies? In real late 80s and up until maybe the late 90s action movies were good all around from the Die Hard series Leathal Weapon to Terminator 2. The original Matrix (not the sequels) was the last good all around (orginal script) action movie until maybe 2002 when Once Upon a Time in Mexico (the sequel to the infinatly better Desperado.) and then now Man on Fire was all around excellent. Both Kill Bills are the same way. It's sad that good non campy or simple action movies are hard to come by anymore. :(

[Guest ScirosDarkblade]

[quote name='Shiguru']It's sad that good non campy or simple action movies are hard to come by anymore. :([/quote]

Hard to come by, true. But they're still there. Equilibrium is freaking awesome (you have to ignore Taye Diggs's acting and a glaring plot loophole). It's non-campy, and boy does it have some good action.

[Shiguru]

I liked Equilibrium. Gun Kata's rule, and Tye Digg's did a pretty good job in that movie. I think the guy can act, but he was never given a complicated role yet. He was kind of a small character in Equilibrium.

I've only seen the movie once though, what is this loophole you speak of?