Release Date: May 7, 2004
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for nonstop creature action violence and frightening images, and for sensuality
Written and Directed by: Stephen Sommers
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Kate Beckinsale, Richard Roxburgh, David Wenham, Shuler Hensley, Will Kemp, Kevin J. O'Connor, Elena Anaya, Silvia Colloca, Josie Maran, Sam West

Plot:
Set in the late 19th century, monster hunter Dr. Gabriel Van Helsing (Jackman) is summoned to a mysterious land in East Europe to vanquish evil forces... evil forces with names like Count Dracula (Roxburgh), the Wolf Man (Kemp), and Frankenstein's Monster (Hensley). Assisting him once he gets there is Anna (Beckinsale), the heir of a long-running family committed to hunting down and destroying Dracula.

Review:
Summer is a season in which films are going to sell tickets like hot cakes. If the film has actors and actresses that are quite known and if the film features an action packed story it will draw attention. To open up the summer season is Van Helsing which has plenty of memorable characters from the past. It's Stephen Sommer's job to give them each a role that will impact the audience when the film comes to an end.

Unfortunately this is not the case and Director of "The Mummy and "The Mummy Returns" delivers a film that suffers from lack of story and lack of soul. However, what this film doesn't suffer from is lack of action. Hardly is there a time to let out a breath of fresh air or to hear some creative dialogue from these creatures in this film.

In the lead actor slot, playing Van Helsing is Wolverine himself Hugh Jackman. Jackman has made himself well known and he is with no doubt a good actor. The only problem is we do not get enough from Van Helsing as we should have. This is of course a problem with the script that suffered completely from originality.

Director Stephen Sommers doesn't hold back from CGI in Van Helsing. He featured a handful of CGI in both the original Mummy and the Mummy sequel. There isn't one sign of realism in Van Helsing and that can tick off audiences. I'm not sure if its an extreme bother, but when butts get numb and ears begin to hurt, they might want their money back.

When you look at why Van Helsing is rated PG-13, the first thing it lists is for nonstop creature action violence and they aren't kidding at all. With the action came the computer generated creatures and buildings in the film. From the looks of it, there is not one scene that does not include CGI. Its almost hard to notice if these actors actually went to locations outside of a studio or building.

Van Helsing is a film that will instantly blow you away. It will blow you away because its loud and annoying. To try and cover up its major flaws, it never stops its action. It never has a sign of taking its time or patience and instead Van Helsing has enough action for a decade of summer films. This of course is not good and anyone who is smart enough will see that the film lacks in everything, except action of course.

One can say that the team of Jackman and Beckinsale can save Van Helsing. Not at all actually and the script has left them with hardly any memorable elements. Kate Beckinsale played the character Selene just last year in Underworld. She was one of the highs of Underworld and she also one of the highs in Van Helsing. But with Stephen Sommers in the director chair and his poor writing for the film there was not a chance that the cast could retaliate.

Potential wasn't a word that ever came up to me while I watched Van Helsing. There would have been major potential if a different crew was assigned to make this film. The cast was solid, but the filmmakers had no sense in a film that had a balance of both impressive action and witty dialogue. Instead Van Helsing is an uneven film that never had a chance of getting up from its brutal fall.

Van Helsing is the type of film that you enjoy the first thirty minutes or so, but once you get past that, you will find that it is a repetitive, empty, mindless action film that has no care for itself. Van Helsing is not a good way to start the summer season and it will make the audience feel cheated and stupid of what they have witnessed. The human race is smarter than this and shouldn't be obligated to endure a film that can hardly put all its pieces together.