Van Helsing

[fajrdrako]

I saw Van Helsing today, with five friends. I liked it more than they did. I thought it was extremely funny - a real classic comedy-thriller. I laughed through most of the movie, while my friends weren't getting the humour. Hmm.

General comments:

1. David Wenham was worth the price of admission. He was adorable. I assume his character was modelled on James Bond's Q?



2. Hugh Jackman was as good as ever and nice to watch. Loved his costuming.



3. I have a crush on Kate Beckinsale and had had ever since "Much Ado About Nothing". This movie did nothing to alleviate that. Loved her costuming, too. I thought she was terrific. (Note to myself: see more of her movies.)



4. I absolutely adored Richard Roxburgh as Dracula.



5. Too much slime and general grossness.



6. I wasn't crazy over the ending, which failed to match the tone of the rest.



7. I loved the "Gabriel, the Left Hand of God" business. Also loved, "which are you, murderer or holy man?" I liked the way the relationship with the Church was handled, with the Vatican as a sort of techno-scientific HQ sending Van Helsing out on the nastier missions.



8. A few surprises: Robbie Coltrane and Samuel West. I guess I haven't been paying attention to the ads.



9. Van Helsing's lost memory and the nose-to-nose conversation with the bad guy ("I could tell you about your past") was just way too close to Wolverine and Stryker scenes in X2. Not that "Van Helsing" was striving for originality, I understand that.



10. I thought Kevin O'Connor was great as Igor, but my favourite was Richard Roxburgh as Dracula. I wanted more of him and less of his creepy flying Brides. who annoyed me. Will Kemp (who played Velkan) caught my eye as someone to look at, but he doesn't seem to have been in much.



11. Didn't they use up all the famous 19th century monsters? Who or what have they saved for the later movies? (I suppose Dracula can always come back....)

Comments

[lmondegreen.livejournal.com]

Well, for the record, I thought it was fabulously hilarious :-)

Hmmm... there's still Jack the Ripper...

[jfc013.livejournal.com]

I have only ever seen Will Kemp in one thing: the Gap "loose-fit jeans" commercial a couple of years ago. He was the scruffy dancer in the denim jacket. He's a ballet dancer--has done "Wind in the Willows" a couple of times in London, a neat-looking production of some ballet that was basically a slashy version of Swan Lake, and some updated gender-reversed Carmen thing. The most detailed website on him is here (http://www.willkemp.org/)--I check it every couple of days! He's a hottie!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I thought it was fabulously hilarious too - I'm glad you agreed! I think Marcelle didn't get all the jokes, not having my background in schlock!

Yes, I thought of Jack the Ripper too - a little different, being real, but still a good foil for Van Helsing.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

A hottie, yes - big-time! Thanks for the URL.

[monsieureden.livejournal.com]

I really liked Dracula too (erm, the guy playing him). I hadn't expected to.

I laughed through the whole thing as well, but I don't know if it was a good thing. I found it far too silly and CGI-ed for my taste. Waaaay too over the top for me.

I only liked Karl (David Wenham is too much fun) and Dracula when he wasn't a freaking CGI bat-monster-thingy-mabob. Yes, half naked Hugh was great, but I felt very little emotion for ANYBODY otherwise, and I don't like feeling no emotion for characters.

I don't care much for Kate. I just saw Underworld as well, and felt very little for her, but felt tons for Scott Speedman.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen Underworld but would like to, if only for Kate Beckinsale. I can't claim that the characters in Van Helsing were well-developed or interesting in their own right - except for Van Helsing himself, and Dracula. David Wenham was, well, something else - a goodball character but Wenham made it work.

Since I don't usually laugh at comedies, I gave it a lot of credit for making me laugh out loud, and often.

[monsieureden.livejournal.com]

Was it a comedy? I got the feeling it was trying to be dramatic but failed miserably. Though obviously some of the dialog was comedic:

Karl: You're not supposed to live!
Monster: I WANT TO LIIVVVVVVVE!
Karl: Ok.

In the most over the top, lookie-our-CGI way, of course.

Wenham was wonderful. Anytime a gorgeous man plays a super geeky character I get excited.

Somebody should've killed those female vampires waaaaay sooner. I wanted Dracula to slap the hell out of them, they were so annoying.

Underworld was good. I liked it more than Van Helsing, but that may be because it was treated seriously. Maybe I took Van Helsing too seriously? It still was just too ungodly silly for me, with all the CGI. Dracula and Karl were what kept me going, they were both so much fun. What else has that guy who played Dracula been in?

You will probably like Kate in Underworld. She's much darker and more angsty - I was actually hoping for some of that in Van Helsing, but her character wasn't the type. Scott Speedman, I thought, was gorgeous, and the guy that played Victor (a master vampire) was just cool evilness. The actor who plays Kraven was yummy... I forget his name but he looked vaguely familar in a British actor sort of way.

Let me know what you think if you ever get around to seeing it.

Oh, and what has Wil Kemps (Falcon) been in? He's created a slight buzz on my friends' list.

[monsieureden.livejournal.com]

Oh, never mind about Wil Kemp. Just caught the URL in your comment box.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Was it a comedy?

That's the crux, isn't it? I decided near the beginning that it was a comedy, and on that level I enjoyed it immensely. Those who took it more seriously seemed to have enjoyed it less, so I think I made the right assumption. I saw no clues that it was trying to be serious at any point - except perhaps that the ads for it didn't say it was a comedy. They should have.

Wenham was wonderful.

I love that man.

Anytime a gorgeous man plays a super geeky character I get excited.

What other roles are you thinking of here?

Somebody should've killed those female vampires waaaaay sooner.

Oh my goodness yes. No charm at all.

What else has that guy who played Dracula been in?

The Hound of the Baskervilles, which I haven't seen. I believe he was Sherlock Holmes and I'm told he was terrific.

Oh, and what has Wil Kemps (Falcon) been in?

I'm told he was in Swan Lake, which I have seen, though I don't actually remember him. I'm not sure what else. A lovely bishonen type, isn't he? I wouldn't mind seeing a lot more of him.

I do want to see Underworld. Thanks for the comments. I looked it up - Shane Brolly plays Kraven - I haven't seen him in anything.

[kathyh]

Having seen it now I can read your review *g*.

I wasn't crazy over the ending, which failed to match the tone of the rest.

No, that was the one thing that really surprised me. It felt tacked on.

I loved the "Gabriel, the Left Hand of God" business. Also loved, "which are you, murderer or holy man?" I liked the way the relationship with the Church was handled, with the Vatican as a sort of techno-scientific HQ sending Van Helsing out on the nastier missions.

Yes, that was interesting. I thought there was room for a more serious story in there.

Didn't they use up all the famous 19th century monsters? Who or what have they saved for the later movies? (I suppose Dracula can always come back....)

Being dead has never stopped him before *g*. There's always the Bride of Frankenstein too...

[monsieureden.livejournal.com]

Even if it was a comedy (and I'm sure it was, now that I saw it) it was still too over the top for me. It was just so stupid at parts, I couldn't justify it. Like watching some of Ed Wood's movies. Funny because it's so stupid, but that doesn't make it good.

What other roles are you thinking of here?

I have no freaking clue, now that you ask me. O___O Maybe it's just a hidden desire of mine.

The Hound of the Baskervilles, which I haven't seen. I believe he was Sherlock Holmes and I'm told he was terrific

My God, I think that's where I've seen him.

lovely bishonen type, isn't he? I wouldn't mind seeing a lot more of him.

Oh yes!! I love bishonen. ;)

Shane Brolly

Looked up his filmography and it's short... and I haven't seen him in anything. So I have no idea why he looked familar. Weird.

[monsieureden.livejournal.com]

I wasn't crazy over the ending, which failed to match the tone of the rest.

I forgot to comment on this. I agree. I think it was just awful. LOL. Utter cheese and in the worst possible way.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I might not have minded the ending if it had belonged to another movie, that had set it up with a little more panache and depth. As it was, it looked completely out of place - thus augmenting the cheese factor by several hundred percent. It would have been quite enough IMHO to have the girl become the Warrior Princess of liberated Transylvania while Van Helsing has to leave forever, angst-ridden loner, killer, and holy man.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I thought there was room for a more serious story in there.


Or at least a more complex and meaty story. Perhaps in the sequels? I thought that implied something more interesting than we got, but perhaps this as like a teaser or a prologue. And introduction to the full tale.

There's always the Bride of Frankenstein too...

Oh, yes, of course! And we have the right set-up for it, too.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Funny because it's so stupid, but that doesn't make it good.

Right. I think that's where our reactions differed - I found it funny in its own right, not because it was bad, just because it was funny. I hate movies that are "so bad they're good" - I can never see them that way.

I'd say that a hero I like who is sexy and geeky is Peter Parker, as done in the comic - he didn't work for me in the movie version at all.

I love bishonen too. And men who remind me of that type.

[monsieureden.livejournal.com]

Yes. That would've worked. It was very out of place, and certainly did not fit the tone of a 'comedy.'

[monsieureden.livejournal.com]

Are you going to see Spiderman 2?

Bishonen men *geeks out*. :)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Yes, I am going to see Spider-Man 2 even though I didn't like Spider-Man 1. Why? Because I love the character of Spider-Man. Because the trailer looked great. Sadly, I don't expect it to live up to hopes because I can't see Toby McGuire and Kirsten Dunst as Peter and Mary Jane, but I haven't give up hope that it may be a good movie that lives up to the best of the comic.

Happily, the new Spider-Man cartoons on TV are amazingly good. Not that I ever seem to manage to catch it when it's on. I may have to buy the DVD!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Maybe they were trying to set the mood for something more serious in the next movie, but I doubt it. I think it was simply bad judgement.

[monsieureden.livejournal.com]

What are the new Spiderman cartoons called? I would like to try to see them if I could. I seem to miss everything on tv these days.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

As far as I know, they're just called Spider-Man - which is annoying because I kept trying to set my VCR for it and just kept getting the old cartoon, which was, IMHO, terrible. I don't know when the new one is shown in the States - it's on YTV here at midnight on Fridays.