Van Helsing review

I saw Van Helsing this afternoon. It's cheesy, campy, and cliché. I loved it :) It is going to end up as a Halloween cult classic, I know it.

The CGI effects were good, even if the story tried to cram too many monster elements in it. I was also kind of disappointed in the ending. Up till that part, the movie did a good job of not taking itself too seriously. I would have also liked to have seen some resolution on who Van Helsing is (he has amnesia and is searching for his past). You leave the movie knowing who he is, but it still would have been cool to have it been played out. I also loved the friar who accompanies Van Helsing on his latest adventure. I wish I had recognized him as Faramir when I was watching the movie. This is a really different role for him, I am very impressed. He did a great job.

I know it's hot, but I don't see how Kate Beckinsale did anything in that corset. Especially sitting up from a horizontal position without flailing about. Must be a vinyl corset that looks like leather. And those heels. Sure she fought monsters and was a badass in those heels. The rest of the townfolk are in neutral colored rags and she has clean leather and suede and perfect hair and make-up. Well, she is a hero after all. She reprises her role from Underworld here, with the same amount of good looks and toughness.

Dracula was not the hottie I was hoping he would be, but he was cute. I really liked how Stephen Sommers interpreted the brides of Dracula.

Overall the movie plot was too convoluted, with too many monsters, but it was great fun. The roles were stereotypical, but that meant you could focus on the camp. The homages to the monster movies of the 50's (and Young Frankenstein and X-Men) were well done and added a bit of humor. If this movie had taken itself seriously, it would have seriously sucked. I say go see it at a matinee if you can, but definitely see it on the big screen to get the full impact of the action parts.

Grade: B (this is such a B movie, how could it have any other grade?)