Van Hellsing: Thoughts, opinions, and criticism!

[Downhome 0]

No I haven't seen it yet, but I will be doing so tomorrow. I had high hopes for this one, but as of right now almost all of the reviews that have come in for it have been, well, not good to put it gently. So whenever some of you watch it, post your thoughts, and I'll do the same.

 

I hope it surprises me though, I really want to like this one.

 

Sincerely,

...Downhome...

[cawthon777 0]

Wasn't too into it when the previews started running but it's won me over. Plus, I'm a Hugh Jackman / Kate Beckinsdale fan.

 

Are these the same critics that hated the Punisher?

[Downhome 0]

I don't know.

 

I haven't even seen The Punisher yet, but I do plan on watching it soon.

[Guest NaturalBornThriller4:20]

I shall be going to see it Saturday.

 

Screw the Critics. Once the summer movie season begins, they start PMS'ing.

 

Kate

[razazteca 0]

Have you noticed that some cable tv specials are hyping this as a horror movie with the history lessons about the monsters? From what I saw from E!, MTV, Sci-Fi I am expecting to see James Bond fight Lon Chaney.

[Downhome 0]

Well, the critics were mainly right about Man On Fire.

[Anakin Flair 0]

with any luck, I'll be seeing BOTH Punisher and Van Helsing tomorrow. And being a former critic, never listen to them. They are biased and most times a persons personal preferences will be vastly different than th critics

[PsychoDriver 0]

At first I thought a movie with Frankenstein, Dracula and The Wolfman would be at least interesting. But based on seeing various previews and specials, I think the movie looks just plain awful. The monsters look like utter crap and the dialog sounds even worst than that.

 

I'll pass on this one and use my $7.50 on something more deserving like maybe throwing nickels at the dancing monkey or something. Maybe I'll catch it on cable though...

[Lil' Bitch 0]

with any luck, I'll be seeing BOTH Punisher and Van Helsing tomorrow

 

Amen to that, I plan on doing the same. Van Helsing looks to be better than Hellboy, I hope it will be.

[Mole 0]

I'll be seeing it tomorrow.

 

And from what the critics said, I bet they are right. This is written and directed by Stephen Sommers, who wrote/directed the Mummy and the Mummy Returns. The Mummies are the generic action movies, so I am not expecting an Oscar type movie out of it, unlike Troy. I'm there for the action and Kate.

[Guest El Satanico]

The sequel was weak, but The Mummy was a good entertaining movie.

[AndrewTS 0]

ONE "L"! Van HeLsing!!

 

Unless it was leaked on the net or something, you couldn't have seen it yet anyway.

 

I'm going with a friend tomorrow to see it.

[Downhome 0]

Hey, I'm a fan of The Mummy movies. Every now and then I need to watch a brainless, check your brain at the door, action flick.

[BlackFlagg 0]

I'll be going to see it...at the very least it should be one of those movies that's fun to watch in a full theatre.

[spiny norman 0]

Sadly, all early reports I've heard for this movie *and* Troy appear to be mildly disappointing. Which is a shame, because two of the three Hollwywood blockbusters of the year I was looking forward to reportedly suck. Oh well, I can't see Pisoner Of Azkaban letting me down.

 

I think not, anyway.

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

Here's the best quote I've found:

 

"Stop asking questions or you’ll miss yet another CGI Van Helsing figure being thrown through yet another CGI wall."

- Sean O'Connell, FILMCRITIC.COM

[Si82 0]

I'm off to see it tomorrow (Saturday). I had been looking forward to it but then the reviews started. Oh well, if it is a brainless actioner, like the Mummy films, then it should be good as mindless entertainment. Which is all I expect from a film like "Van Helsing".

[Downhome 0]

Now that I think about it, this film shouldn't get some sort of free ticket for being just a brainless action film. We're talking about Van Helsing, Dracula, Frankenstein, and The Wolfman all in the entire film.

 

If anything, this should be one of the greatest horror flicks ever, showing the horror of the three main monsters while also showing their inner struggles.

 

Instead this will be a "me good you bad me kill you good" type of thing, and that's just sad.

 

For now, I leave you with this quote.

 

"Van Helsing desecrates the memory of our greatest movie monsters"

-- Christian Toto, WASHINGTON TIMES

 

I still wish that this film would prove me wrong later today though.

[Guest Goodear]

I'm not psyched. I think the monster designs have basically lost any trace of actual menace in favor of a video game boss fight style design. I'm tired of Vampires that turn into giant bat things and have teeth so fucking big that they would bite your head off if they tried to drink your blood. I'm tired of Werewolves that are large enough that they couldn't sneak up on Mr. Magoo. And for the love of god, I am tired of hunters that basically walk up to monsters and fight them mano-to-mano instead of using their actual weaknesses against them in a way beyond 'silver bullets'.

 

Posting odds that when the Werewolf gets killed, he turns back into human form and says 'thank you' before dying... 10:1

[cabbageboy 0]

The thing I'm tired of is the constant revisions of Dracula lore and vampires in general. All this stuff in recent movies like "Oh, Dracula CAN go around in daylight, he isn't afraid of crosses, wooden stakes don't do anything." This is all bullshit and I'm sick of it. Hell, the last movie I saw that was faithful to vampire myth was From Dusk Till Dawn of all things.

[Guest Goodear]

Paraphrased...

 

"Vampires don't like silver."

 

"NO! That's werewolves..."

 

"I'm sure vampires don't like it either."

 

"GUYS! Do we have any silver?"

 

"No."

 

"Then move on."

 

-----------------------------------------------------

 

Of course this doesn't mean that DtillD gets it right. They still make vampires out to be cardboard cutouts that just kill people. The original stories for all the classic monsters were about more than 'I vill kill you!', they were about themes that ran deep. I demand more THEMEEEEEES!

[cabbageboy 0]

Well no, From Dusk Till Dawn doesn't really have any depth in terms of the vampires. I just meant that it got the ground rules right on what they fear, their strengths, etc.

[Jingus 0]

The thing I'm tired of is the constant revisions of Dracula lore and vampires in general. All this stuff in recent movies like "Oh, Dracula CAN go around in daylight, he isn't afraid of crosses, wooden stakes don't do anything." This is all bullshit and I'm sick of it.

Except in the original novel, Dracula DID go walking around in daylight. And he was killed by a throat-heart double stabbing, not by a wooden stake.

[Vyce 0]

At first I thought a movie with Frankenstein, Dracula and The Wolfman would be at least interesting. But based on seeing various previews and specials, I think the movie looks just plain awful. The monsters look like udder crap and the dialog sounds even worst than that.

 

I'll pass on this one and use my $7.50 on something more deserving like maybe throwing nickels at the dancing monkey or something. Maybe I'll catch it on cable though...

I still plan on seeing this some time in the next week, but I agree with you about how the film looks visually.

 

I was very excited to see this film, UNTIL I saw the first trailer for it. And I sat there and thought to myself......"Where did all the CHEESE come from?" Bad looking monsters, bad-looking CGI.....this has the potential to just be awful.

 

But like I said, I'll still see it, for a couple reasons:

 

1) I'm a slave to horror movies. Even not-really-a-horror-movie, just-an-action-movie-with-monsters flicks like this one.

 

2) Kate Beckinsale. My. Sweet. Godness.

[Guest The Midnight Rocking Warrior]

Despite rotten Tomatoes' 40% rating, I still have high hopes for Troy....... I mean Brenden Gleeson, Brian Cox, and Peter O'Toole are in it. The reviews have been mixed for Bana, Pitt, and Bloom with Bana getting slightly more credit for his role. I can't wait to see it.......... wrestling fans will probably like it....... IT HAS NATHAN JONES!

[Der Kommissar 0]

wrestling fans will probably like it....... IT HAS NATHAN JONES! 

 

You forgot to mention that it also has former WCW wrestler, Tyler Mane in it as well. I never thought I'd see Nathan Jones and Tyler Mane in an "Oscar worthy" flick.

[AndrewTS 0]

wrestling fans will probably like it....... IT HAS NATHAN JONES!

Sarcasm or nonsequitor?

[Mecha Mummy 0]

I saw it at a preview screening on Tuesday. Absolutely terrible movie, only good for unintentional humor. See it with a group and MST it, or don't bother at all.

[cabbageboy 0]

Back to Dracula. Thing is, how many people have common knowledge of the book Dracula? Maybe he did die in the book via a double stabbing to the throat and chest and could go around in daylight....but what mythology do people really KNOW? They know he dies mainly via sunlight or having a stake through his heart. More recent vampire movies seem to go out of their way to toss aside all the rules, and to me it all just comes off like postmodern bullshit that is trying in vain to be hip.

[Garth 0]

I enjoyed it for what it was, wasn't expecting anything that would stretch my mind and went in with an open mind about it. Not a movie i'd rush out to see again, but not something I lament spending time watching. See it if you've got a couple of hours to spare for a mindless action romp.