Written by: Stephen Sommers
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Kate Beckinsale, Richard Roxburgh, David Wenham, Will Kemp
Rating: [4/5]
Tracking down monsters and disposing of them requires a specific set of skills and the wherewithal to complete it. When these monsters include the famous ones we know from classic tales allows for some fun to be had. Fun remains the operative word and defines exactly what we receive with Van Helsing. A film that easily overcomes its deficiencies and takes us on a thrill ride right to the heart of Dracula.
Serving The Holy Order in killing monsters that pose a threat to humanity, Gabriel Van Helsing (Hugh Jackman) does the dirty work and takes all of the heat for the church. His next assignment entails heading over to Transylvania to destroy Dracula (Richard Roxburgh) and also protect the Valerious family, which includes Anna (Kate Beckinsale) at the same time. Proving as his most difficult challenge yet, Van Helsing also learns more about his past that he cannot remember.
Following the massive success of The Mummy, Universal Studios has desperately wanted to utilize the monsters they have in their catalog and turn them into blockbusters. Heck, we just had the failed Dark Universe crash and burn. While the idea of putting these creatures in an action film rather than a straight-up horror film does lead to questions, Van Helsing approaches this in such an entertaining manner that sprinkles in characters as necessary into the plot and culminates in a great viewing experience.
If The Mummy films attempted to emulate Indiana Jones, then it proves quite evident Van Helsing wanted to operate like a James Bond film where we have this man tasked by a larger entity to kill whoever they deem necessary and get a whole host of gadgets to accomplish those tasks. With our titular character, we get cool gadgets but ones that align with the 19th century such as an automatic crossbow and arrows filled with holy water meant to kill vampires. Seriously, how can someone not love this? Van Helsing gets paid to do his job and taking him to Transylvania means he will encounter a foe like no other, and we get quite the treat with this iteration of Dracula.
Richard Roxburgh steps into this role and delivers a wonderful performance as this ancient creature. Something more akin to what Gary Oldman did with the character in 1992. He saunters around with his wives trying to conceive of this plan to essentially send his offspring to terrorize the world and every scene where he appears on screen is such a treat. When he finally interacts with Van Helsing, it makes for the best scenes of the film because not only do they need to face off but he also has the answers Van Helsing is looking for regarding his mysterious past. Roxburgh dominates the screen and has many wonderful moments that stand out, with the ballroom scene being my absolute favorite when he speaks with Anna and also his introduction of Van Helsing. He proves to be one of the more fun interpretations of Dracula put to screen.
Accompanying Van Helsing on this quest to kill Dracula we have Kate Beckinsale sporting a rough Eastern European accent portraying Anna Valerious. She pairs quite well with Hugh Jackman as the pair fight their way through this mysterious world of monsters. Anna serves as the emotional center of the story as the vanquishing of Dracula specifically impacts her family and the legacy they will leave. This exists as her home with Van Helsing only sent here to complete the job assigned to him. She brings the tough action hero charisma we need as does Hugh Jackman who pulls in a movie star turn with his work as the monster slayer. With this coming out within his run as Wolverine in the X-Men films he brought exactly the type of charisma one would want to this role and plays the whole thing seriously, which then only makes Richard Roxburgh’s performance as Dracula all the more as a juxtaposition.
While certainly sporting some unfortunate visual effects in moments, Van Helsing will always remain a film I will vehemently defend. Listen, if we can excuse the many flaws of The Mummy films because of the fun they present, then I can do the same with this one. We get some very fun performances by the cast members, a whole host of monsters that enter the story and leave their discernible mark and receive a thoroughly entertaining movie. The DVD my family owned of this movie got well-worn with the number of times I’ve watched and rightfully so seeing as it has all of the juice of a story that takes an exciting twist on all of these Universal monsters and what it would look like if a James Bond-like character would enter the fray and try to take them all out. It’s a shame the sequel to this one never happened to continue to follow Van Helsing and his adventures but what we received here does more than enough.
Films with Josh 
