Borrowing heavily from James Whale's Frankenstein as well as the legends of Dracula, Dr Jekyll and Wolfman, Van Helsing is a new action film with a very familiar feel to it.
The title character is brought to life by Hugh Jackman (Swordfish, X-Men), who embarks on an adventure to help Transylvania's Princess (Kate Beckinsale).
His mission is to rid her country of Vampires, Werewolves and, most of all, evil leader Count Dracula (Richard Roxburgh). To do this he calls upon the help of a friar, acted very amusingly by David Wenham of Lord of the Rings (think Q in James Bond movies).
Along the journey Van Helsing begins to find out who he really is and realises he is more involved in this mission than he ever knew. Having lost his memory, he begins to gather the pieces together.
Featuring awesome special effects, several beautiful women, some awfully ugly monsters and non-stop adventure this is a film action lovers should go to see. With a couple of jumps, a few giggles and a little romance the film should engross a wide range of people.
But please remember this is not a serious film, do not analyse it too much as it is full of flaws. The story line is not completely thought through (although I will not tell you why as it would spoil the film and you will probably realise this for yourself anyways).
The ending is not needed. It's an ending where you leave thinking "If only they ended it 3mins earlier it would have been great".
Rated 12A, Directed by Steven Sommers (The Mummy) Length 132mins (although it feels a hell of lot shorter - surely a sign of a good film?).
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