Customer Reviews
Dramatic, Gothic and Fun but...... - By: WormKez, 06 Jan 2009 
I love vampire films, so I couldn't miss this one. However, after watching it, I have mixed feelings.
The fact that this film has a lot of characters; Dr Jeckle, Frankenstein's Monster, Dracula, Brides of Dracula, thousands of their off-spring & Werewolves, etc. (what else isin it?!) makes it interesting to watch. However, the full-on, non-stop action is a bit exhausting to say the least. It needed to slow downin order to get into the characters & the relationships,in other words, it needed more depth! Van Helsing (Hugh Jackman) plays the same basic character as he didin the X-Men movies; the grumpy hero who saves the day. Kate Beckinsale just fell flat & there wasn't much chemistry between her & Jackman.
Out of the whole cast, Richard Roxburgh, who plays Dracula, did a bit better, because it's the first time I've seen Dracula look a pillock. For instance; walking up the wall & while giving a childish "oh woe is me" speech to his two remaining brides who were hanging from the ceiling. I found this laughable & why didn't he just fly up anyway? He also gave a good impression of being a coward, as well as arrogance; this exhibits itself more when he fights Van Helsing towards the end of the film. He fears death & is afraid of anyone who may be stronger than him (something he's never been used too) & he still thinks he's indestructible. I can imagine the real Vlad had a nature like this, with the exception of walking up walls of course! I certainly think Richard Roxburgh added the comic touch to the film. It's a shame more of it couldn't have been the same.
The CGI is good, but it's so fast, you miss a lot the high-quality effects. The costume design is on the ridiculous sidein some parts. How did Ms. Beckinsale manage to do all those acrobaticsin that black corset?
Nevertheless, I Loved the comic book, OTT style which reminded me of other films such as Indiana Jones, The Mummy & The League of Extraordinary Gentleman, which appeal to both adults & children. I believe this was the intension.
I would watch it again; purely on the basis that it's a gothic, dramatic & fun film to watch when there's nothing else on, or at Christmas, so I would have itin my collection.
Impressively poor - By: Rafal Gruszczynski, 08 Dec 2008 
Everythingin this movie is poor - from acting to the plot. I tried hard to find a positive note, but failed to find one. I am only surprised that actors known from good (well - better) titles were part of it. Must be for the money.
AVOID!!!!
doh - By: martin thomas, 07 Jun 2008 complete rubbish that is not worth bothering with.theres no gore,no scares
the werewolves,vampires & frankensteins monster all look cheap & shoddy,the acting is awful, the script is worse
Crash! Bang! Wallop! But not much else. - By: Tempestas, 13 Feb 2008 
This is a film that tries to do many things, but only really manages to be incredibly noisy. There are nods to other movies (including James Bond & M) & an attempt to marry horror with wit (not easy, but watch Buffy the equally famous Vampire Slayer to see how it's done).
Hugh Jackman playsin fairly straightin the title role, Richard Roxburgh hams it up as Dracula & Kate Beckinsale struts her stuffin ridiculous heels, a wasp waisted corset & a blouse that tries to make her look bare breasted.
Unfortunately the thin storyline (haunted vampire hunter Jackman wants to kill Dracula. So does Kate) is not helped by the thin script, & being battered by CGI effects & the sound track ended up making me feel slightly mind boggled & just plain disappointed.
If you want to turn off your brain & simply admire the clever technology, give it a go. If you want substance, character & something to get your teeth into....give it a miss.
SHALLOW FOR SURE BUT AMUSING - By: Jacques COULARDEAU, 20 Jan 2008 
When you want to make one more film on Dracula who counts several hundred films already, both as assets & as drawbacks, you have to be original. No problem ! Let's patchwork together dozens of allusions to other films & create the first ever vampiristic salad. So Dr Frankenstein & his creature will be there. The use of the lightning to get electricity likein Back to the Future 1. The use of strange weapons halfway between Back to the Future 3 & The Lord of the Rings. The costume, dress, apparel of Van Helsing looks like Clint Eastwood'sin a spaghetti western, & at times like the main hero'sin the Matrix trilogy. The cowsin the village are similar to thosein Salem's Lot 2. Even the dance scene with the vampire reflectedin a half empty mirror is borrowed from Dance of the Vampires. I would need a volume to quote them all. So what's left after all that composing of tidbits? A superhero Van Helsing who kills Dracula's three fiancées, the thousands of baby vampires that look like upside down Aliensin their suspended pods, & Dracula himself. And all that on the order from the Vatican, the Pope & the good old godly Catholic church. That's a counter-allusion to the Da Vinci Code. The film then is more dictatedin its plot by the brand new topnotch state of the art digitalized image processing of the modern world than the reverse. So the plot is a vast ballet between mountains & from abysses to cosmic skies. It is thus an amusing entertainment as shallow as the Thames River twenty kilometers before its spring. Or is it the Mississippi river?
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines
