Van Helsing

Van Helsing is the first major entry into the summer action movie race and a worthy adversary for the Trojans and superheroes to come. The film is an old time atmospheric monster movie and resembles one of the monster mash movies of the 1940s like Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman. Imagine giving those B-film directors a blockbuster budget and 21st century computer graphics and setting them loose. Stephen Sommer’s Van Helsing would be the result.

From the very first scene shot in black and white of Doctor Frankenstein, Dracula, Igor, and the doctor’s creation the stage is set and the atmosphere thick with the history of Transylvania and its legendary monsters. There is the classic beautifully done scene of Frankenstein at the burning windmill all recreated with reverence and beauty including the obligatory torch wielding mob. Then 21st century roller coaster ride takes off.

Suddenly we meet Van Helsing, a wanted man with no memory of his past who kills monsters for the church in Rome. Here Van Helsing is played with all of his vulnerability and ruggedness by Hugh Jackman. The role is similar to his turn as Wolverine in the X-Men movies, a dark hero with an unknown past. After a thrilling fight with Mister Hyde in the bell tower of Notre Dame, Van Helsing returns to the church for his next assignment. There he picks up his Q like sidekick, David Wenham as a monk named Carl, who provides him with all method of Batman like gothic monster fighting toys.

Van Helsing is sent to Romania, to Transylvania in particular, where mythical creatures dwell. There lives Dracula, a 15th century warrior who was killed in battle and pledged his soul to the devil for eternal life. He lives out his immortal life preying on the villagers and carousing with his three wives and trying to raise his offspring. Here also lives the family Valerious who swore to destroy Dracula and gain access to heaven for all of the family. Unfortunately the family is dwindling quickly and only Anna Valerious, played by the lovely Kate Beckinsale, and her brother are left to carry on the family quest. Thus Van Helsing is sent, a stranger in a strange town, to help Anna Valerious in her mission.

Here the story stall somewhat, though there is little time devoted to the love story, the doomed love between Anna and Van Helsing is less than inspiring. There is no chemistry here as with the O’Connell’s in The Mummy movies and their sparse romantic scenes feel forced. One can only imagine that it once occupied more of the film but was mercifully cut to a bare minimum once the flat romance was edited.

Like The Mummy Returns, Van Helsing verges on monster overload. The film resembles a big rollercoaster with brief respites between the action sequences. Between Dracula, his brides, werewolves, Mister Hyde, Igor, and Frankenstein there are monsters galore and Van Helsing has his hands full. There is also toying with the traditional monster mythology, Dracula, for instance, seems to have no problem with crosses. Others are true; arrows dipped in holy water are more effective than regular arrows against the master’s brides. Here the monsters are interwoven into a semblance of a plot that serves such an action film admirably. There is a werewolf attack, then a vampire attack, more werewolves, Dracula, and then Frankenstein’s monster.

As always Frankenstein’s monster is the most poignant monster of the bunch, played here by Shuler Hensley. Created not out of his own evil, he is the creation of a man who sought to outwit god. Frankenstein is a misunderstood monster who did not ask to be made but desires to be allowed to exist in the world. Here he fights on the side of good but he is a pawn of Dracula’s plans to bring his vampire spawn to life.

The makeup and CGI effects were wonderful and made all of the action and transformations come alive. I especially liked the idea that the werewolf sheds his human skin and the werewolf emerges from within, kind of a beast within parallel. I must admit I did not understand why on the first night of the full moon new changed werewolves retain their self identity, but it served the story so I won’t complain. The movie is forebodingly atmospheric from the pathetic Transylvanian town to Dracula’s formidably icy lair; the sets are monstrous and mythic. This land is far beyond our own world as are its heroes and monsters. This is the world of the film, a world where Stephen Sommers pays homage to action and monster films from the past 80 years. Van Helsing transports us away from the world for a few hours of fun and delivers us fully satisfied with the ride.

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1. Universal Studios Monster Movies