I used the phrase, “An enjoyable mess!” as that is what it essentially is – a huge hotchpotch of supernatural and mythological phenomena. By the end of the movie, when it’s all over you’ll find yourself wondering, ”Hold it, how was that possible? And that? And the one before that?”Although you will find the answers with a bit more correlation of events on your part, the director Stephen Sommers could really not have made a bigger pell-mell out of it. The funniest part though is that in spite of realizing all this , you’ll actually end up being entertained if you are the type who likes ‘the fairy tale kind’ of movies, which is why I still recommend this. The biggest doubt I have is why the director dedicated such a movie to his father? But anyway….
THE CAST
Hugh Jackman: aka Van Helsing.Anavatar of the left hand of god, angel Gabriel. Due to some mishap he’d lost all his memory and had been doomed to this life of a human outlaw of sorts. His job was to heed god’s call and perish all evil on earth.
Kate Beckinsale: aka Anna Valerious.She belonged to a coveted family in Transylvania. Her progenitors had made a pact with god not to enter heaven before Dracula had been slain. They had failed thus far ,and she was the last member alive.
Richard Roxburgh: aka Count Vladislaus Dracula.A human flagrant at one point, he was murdered by Gabriel. But owing to Satan’s grace, he lived a life of vengeance, at war with the rest of the world, a vampire now.
David Wenham: aka Carl. Likes to call himself a friar and not a monk so that he can enjoy the added advantages. ;)An associate of Van Helsing.
Shuler Hensley: aka Frankenstein. He was a human created out of 7 other dead people by a certain scientist long back who was now dead. Dracula’s after him as he feels he’s the key to inject life into his children who are born dead, being the progeny of the living dead.
THE BIZARRE PLOT
The Pope of the Vatican, realizes Van Helsing for what he is and places him under his protection. His latest mission is to put an end to the disease by the name of Count Dracula and the rest of his minions.
He makes his way to Transylvania where a certain Anna Valerious is courageously holding off Dracula. Together they set about the task of hunting down Dracula. They are pestered on numerous occasions by Dracula’s 3 wives who can’t help acting like restless baboons. And of course the werewolves. Just about any supernatural power seems to be under Dracula’s power in this film. Anna wants Dracula dead, but wants her brother back even more who apparently has been turned into a werewolf by Dracula. This leads to a conflict of interests between Van Helsing and Anna which is eventually resolved, when she gets her emotions under control.
However, Dracula has a lot of things in mind. He wants Frankenstein so that his children can live, he wants Anna as his next bride and he wants revenge against the man who had killed him once. He almost achieves the latter 2, and holds it as a threat to lure Van Helsing in. But, in an act of impromptu rescue, he manages to save Anna. As things get tougher for Helsing , Carl his associate stumbles upon a way to kill Dracula in Count’s old den.But, it requires Van Helsing to turn into a werewolf himself, doing which there was never any guarantee he would be able to be cured again. But maybe there is a chance, an outside chance….saying more at this stage might not be fair, which is why I’ll abstain from that.
LUDICRUOUS POINTS ABOUT THE MOVIE
1.I mean from the plot itself one can make out that there is absolutely no fixed set of notions guiding this movie. Since when did Frankenstein get associated with Dracula? Frankenstein is fictitious whereas Count existed. His prowess as a vampire has been exaggerated through the years, but really this didn’t make much sense.
2.Then he has involved god and devil also in this already discombobulated plot, which combines mythology and the supernatural world. Why even the pope is in it…
3.The role of Dracula’s 3 brides has been needlessly exaggerated in the movie. All they do is look hot and irritate the people in the movie, not failing to irk the spectators either with their antics. They talk too much and do less.
4.Considering the kind of things the director wants us to digest in this movie, not having any preconceived notions he has done a decent job of assembling his ideas, but he throws one idea after another at a fast rate, which becomes a tad difficult to handle.
Why I would still recommend this…
1. The special effects are cool beyond a doubt. A lot has been invested in this field to good effect. I can see where the $150 million went.
2. The soundtrack and the sound effects are very appropriate to the happenings in the movie.
3. The action sequences are big and plentiful by nature. There is something happening all the time.
4. It’s correct that this story based on some pre-existing characters of mythology might have been distorted a great deal, but then a movie need not be real, does it? It’s myth we are talking about after all. So, if you don’t have any pre-defined notions you are going to be more than ok with it.
5. No doubt the fact that the happenings are totally unpredictable and inexplicable at times is one of the weaker points but it is one of its stronger points as well. Everyone finds the prospect of knowing the unknown exciting and that is what the movie achieves very well indeed. I can see why even with such a controversial plot, it grossed $140 million domestically alone breaking all vampire movie records.
6. Van Helsing oscillates between being clumsy and responsible, how he achieves it I know not :) .He along with his associate Carl help to make many funny scenes justifying this action comedy.
7. Anna’s courage and passion for her family and mission is very inspiring and makes you want to side with her every move. Kate Beckinsale does a fine transformation of accents from her general one which fits her role of Anna perfectly.
8. Lastly, it has an ending which probably no one was expecting, or would have expected half way through the movie when the tone seemed to be set.Unexpected endings as we all know are always appreciated by the public.
So, then it has its list of shortcomings and if you are not much of a supernatural/myth/fairy tale kind of person, this is not for you. On the other hand if you are open to that side of entertainment and beliefs I’d definitely recommend this pulsating episode of action and fantasy. Happy Watching!
Directed by:Stephen Sommers
Written By:Stephen Sommers
