Van Hellsing: Thoughts, opinions, and criticism!

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

Saw it. Enjoyed it. I have a thing for classic movie monsters, so perhaps I was more forgiving then most.

 

I did think it ran a tad long.

[AndrewTS]

Saw it. Enjoyed it. I have a thing for classic movie monsters, so perhaps I was more forgiving then most.

That's actually one of the reasons why quite a few of us are upset over it.

 

I did think it ran a tad long.

 

Eh, 2 hours isn't really that long for a movie, although the listings said it would run 2:25.

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

Saw it. Enjoyed it. I have a thing for classic movie monsters, so perhaps I was more forgiving then most.

That's actually one of the reasons why quite a few of us are upset over it.

 

I did think it ran a tad long.

 

Eh, 2 hours isn't really that long for a movie, although the listings said it would run 2:25.

It's not the time that made me feel it was long, it was that the movie felt sluggish at the end.

[dubq]

Van Helsing = Flaming Piece of Shit. Maybe I expected too much?

[cabbageboy]

I'm torn over this. I was expecting a goofy Mummy remake type movie from Sommers and that's what it was. There were a few things I enjoyed, such as VH himself turning into a werewolf near the end (oh the irony). Frankenstein's Monster was also fairly decent. But my god Richard Roxburgh was just HORRIBLE as Dracula. After seeing the way Dracula and Ygor were portrayed here I wondered if Lugosi was rolling over in his grave. It's pretty dire when you almost wish for Frank Langella, haha.

[Dangerous A]

Movie sucked fat meat missle. Acting was fucking terrible. As much as I like Beckinsale, I wanted to jump on screen and slay her myself for that horrible Transylvanian accent.

[Guest Mindless_Aggression]

Dracula is a fairly hard role to play because A, it's been done so much and only a handful (Bela Lugosi, Christopher Lee and maybe a few others) have done it well and B scenery can be chewed beyond belief if the dramatic over the top lines are not delivered properly. Roxburgh dropped the ball big time but to be fair, you'd have to be acting Jesus to pull some of that stuff off well. The source material was just awful.

[cabbageboy]

By the way, was anyone else a bit pissed about the false advertising here? They advertised The Wolfman as being in this but I didn't see Lawrence Talbot anywhere. Sure, Kate's bro was a werewolf and Van Helsing himself turned into one but that's just standard werewolf stuff. The Wolfman is Lawrence Talbot. It's like advertising Dracula but not having Dracula, instead just a routine vampire.

[Guest The Midnight Rocking Warrior]

I thought it was...... entertaining........ perversely entertaining at times, but entertaining nonetheless. I didn't really think it was razzie worthy, aside from maybe Roxburgh, but Hugh Jackman was pretty good in it

[Mecha Mummy]

The plot was Razzie worthy. And since the Razzie's run by idiots who don't get that just because someone was famous and in a bad movie, that doesn't automatically mean that their performance itself was bad, so I'm betting Jackman shows up.

 

Catwoman's making a sweep, though. I'm calling that right now.

[AndrewTS]

I think it may be worth noting that there's a DVD of an animated feature out--Van Helsing: The London Assignment. I saw it when I was at FYE picking up my copy of Reefer Madness (also got the Robot Monster/Plan 9 double pack for a mere 10 bucks). It's a prequel of sorts to the movie.

 

It concerns Hyde in London, which means that they put out a feature that basically is going to have the villain get away before he's killed in the movie. Hmph.

 

I was considering it, but then I saw that it boasts it has the same director and producer as the movie, so I set it down.

 

The extra features seem to make it out to be just a glorified commercial for the movie. I could be wrong, but just reading the box gave me a bad feeling about it.

[dubq]

By the way, was anyone else a bit pissed about the false advertising here? They advertised The Wolfman as being in this but I didn't see Lawrence Talbot anywhere. Sure, Kate's bro was a werewolf and Van Helsing himself turned into one but that's just standard werewolf stuff. The Wolfman is Lawrence Talbot. It's like advertising Dracula but not having Dracula, instead just a routine vampire.

There was a werewolf near the beginning, the one that bit Kate's brother when they fell into the river. He just disappeared after that - either that or I wasn't paying attention. Maybe that one was supposed to be Talbot?

[dubq]

Dracula is a fairly hard role to play because A, it's been done so much and only a handful (Bela Lugosi, Christopher Lee and maybe a few others) have done it well.

Dude, Motherfuckin' GARY OLDMAN!!

[Mecha Mummy]

Dracula is a fairly hard role to play because A, it's been done so much and only a handful (Bela Lugosi, Christopher Lee and maybe a few others) have done it well.

Dude, Motherfuckin' GARY OLDMAN!!

I absolutely loathed that movie. Oldman was okay in it, I guuess.

[Guest Mindless_Aggression]

Yeah, I actually think Oldman did a pretty good job with the role, he just flat out slipped my mind. I wasn't sitting there thinking "You're not Dracula" which is always a good sign.

[The Metal Maniac]

So...is Van Helsing an angel, or what?

 

I haven't seen the movie, but the second I saw the trailer, I assumed as much (I have no fucking clue WHY you'd promote a movie around "What will this character learn about his history" and then let slip his name, which happens to be fucking Gabriel); however, after reading this thread I have no real desire to see the movie, as it looks like even they don't explain very well.

 

So...anyone know?

[AndrewTS]

So...is Van Helsing an angel, or what?

 

I haven't seen the movie, but the second I saw the trailer, I assumed as much (I have no fucking clue WHY you'd promote a movie around "What will this character learn about his history" and then let slip his name, which happens to be fucking Gabriel); however, after reading this thread I have no real desire to see the movie, as it looks like even they don't explain very well.

 

So...anyone know?

 

They hint at it, saying that when Drac was originally killed when he was "struck down" by the "left hand of God," and Drac mentions VH training in various parts of the world. However, when Drac is about to actually explain the whole thing, VH interrupts him, saying "some pasts are best left forgotten" and then they begin fighting. So maybe yes, maybe no, but he still he seems human.

 

So if you're looking for a clear explanation, join the club. I suppose if it were actually explained it would beat the now-cliche half-human/half-vampire hunters we usually see.

[Guest The Midnight Rocking Warrior]

Fuck...... Oh well, at least Jackman has the Tony nomination. Tonys are more prestigious than oscars, Ok maybe I'm a bit biased on this.

[justsoyouknow]

So...is Van Helsing an angel, or what?

 

I haven't seen the movie, but the second I saw the trailer, I assumed as much (I have no fucking clue WHY you'd promote a movie around "What will this character learn about his history" and then let slip his name, which happens to be fucking Gabriel); however, after reading this thread I have no real desire to see the movie, as it looks like even they don't explain very well.

 

So...anyone know?

 

They hint at it, saying that when Drac was originally killed when he was "struck down" by the "left hand of God," and Drac mentions VH training in various parts of the world. However, when Drac is about to actually explain the whole thing, VH interrupts him, saying "some pasts are best left forgotten" and then they begin fighting. So maybe yes, maybe no, but he still he seems human.

 

So if you're looking for a clear explanation, join the club. I suppose if it were actually explained it would beat the now-cliche half-human/half-vampire hunters we usually see.

The way I took it was that, with Dracula being "Satan's son", as well as he and Van Helsing having a "history" together, there was a biblical connection. When Dracula called Van Helsing "Gabriel", everything just sort of clicked. In my estimation, Van Helsing is The Archangel Gabriel, A.K.A. The Left Hand of God.

[Guest Vitamin X]

I saw this movie last night, and wanted to walk out in the middle of it, but didn't want to waste the money I had.

 

Was anyone else hoping for Kate Beckinsale to turn into a vampire? I had just seen Underworld again recently before watching Van Helsing, and goddamn Vampires are so much cooler in that movie than Van Helsing could have ever hoped to be. I did like the Jackman as a werewolf thing though, that was a good one.

 

The sound, plot and acting were absolutely terrible. The brides got incredily way too much fucking screen time though, holy shit they annoyed the hell out of me. It was just constant shrieking and lameass comments. If I wanted that, I could've just stayed home and listen to my mother bitch for another while longer. Anna had a great line towards the end, "When you're trying to kill someone, you should kill them not talk to them about it." I love shoot comments that aren't supposed to be shoot comments.

 

God I don't even want to go into it. There were about two things I liked about this movie, and that was the scenery and the music. Done well, although the scenery almost ripped off the LOTR trilogy in trying to be epic. And it was an epic... An epic atrocity.