Van Helsing ( 2004)
Review by M.B. | Foreign Films Made in Czech
A successful movie! The cast are so beautifully and properly chosen for their roles; appropriate music, background and costume all managed to make the movie became a great hit. Honestly, I was reluctant to watch any more Vampire movies prior to this one. But after watching Val Helsing, I thought it was a real work of art.
If Richard Roxburgh was brilliantly played as Count Dracular, a handsome, wicked, ruthless, charming character depended on his mood, then Hugh Jackman was definitely not less in his role as Van Helsing, the famous and notorious vampire/monster hunter. To balance the evil and ugliness of the evil world, director Stephen Sommers skillfully added three beautiful, sexy and exotic looking brides of Count Dracular, as well as the marvelous and striking female vampire hunter Anna Valerious (Kate Beckinsale). Not only that, the presence of the "monk" companion Carlos (David Wenham) and his incredible range of weapons which he invented with the purpose of destroying vampires, never failed to make the viewers smiled and thought of all the gadgets in James Bond movies.
It was a bit sad when the beautiful and virtuous Anna Valerious died at the end of the movie, perhaps to follow her ancestors (all were vampire hunters) and her brother's soul (who was turned into a werewolf while fighting the wicked enemy) into eternity. The sad ending, however, fits in very well with the theme of the movie, which the hero walked away and continued with his mission to bring peace to the universe, and Count Dracular was gone forever.
A few points that puzzled me: - Why could Dracular be destroyed by a broken neck and nothing else? - Anna Valerious’ gorgeous hair never fell out of shape! How incredible! This movie reminded me of "The Brother Grimms," but it had its own beauty and magnificent scenes as well as all the hilarities peppered here and there throughout the movie.
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