Just watched this again on BluRay, and I still love it. Sadly, many, many critics (and others) just didn't "get" this movie.
This special effects extavaganza is simply a tongue-in-cheek, campy homage to the greatest monsters of the 30,s 40s, 50s and 60's.... Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, and the Wolfman. Not to be condescending, but it is incomprehensible to me that so many critics simply couldn't understand this.... as obvious as it is. How can you watch David Wenham's portrayal of Friar Carl and not recognize this???
Dracula's wives were absolutley terrific... and just as I had envsioned them from Stoker's novel (with an added campy line or two). Glad I didn't see them when I was 7 years old..... I wouldn't have slept for the next 7 years!. Dracula was excellent.... melodramatic sometimes, frightening the next. He had the look and feel down pat (and the CGI Dracula late in the movie was a might impressive, too).
Frankenstein's monster was also excellent.... just the right mix of pathos, humor and terror. LOVED the electricity buzzing around his head!
Wolfy didn't have all that much screen time, but he was appropriately scary with the best transformation scenes ever.
Kate Beckinsale was there pretty much for her looks (which was ok with me). Although her accent was terrible, it was easy to overlook considering the campiness of the movie.
Hugh Jackman's Van Helsing was superb... fine acting sometimes, and you'd swear he's looking and winking at the camera the next. He seemed to truly have a feel for the intent of the picture.
The sets were incredible.... just perfect on all counts. The sequence where they are flying down the mountainous road in the coach (and all that went with it) was gorgeous to look at and exhilarating to watch. The castles, the village..... Just WOW!
Understand that it's INTENDED to be campy, yet pay proper respects to the monsters of old, all the while with great effects and a decent story. IT"S NOT INTENDED TO BE "GANDHI!" Really fun, popcorn eating, extravaganza. 4.5 out of 5 stars for me.
This special effects extavaganza is simply a tongue-in-cheek, campy homage to the greatest monsters of the 30,s 40s, 50s and 60's.... Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, and the Wolfman. Not to be condescending, but it is incomprehensible to me that so many critics simply couldn't understand this.... as obvious as it is. How can you watch David Wenham's portrayal of Friar Carl and not recognize this???
Dracula's wives were absolutley terrific... and just as I had envsioned them from Stoker's novel (with an added campy line or two). Glad I didn't see them when I was 7 years old..... I wouldn't have slept for the next 7 years!. Dracula was excellent.... melodramatic sometimes, frightening the next. He had the look and feel down pat (and the CGI Dracula late in the movie was a might impressive, too).
Frankenstein's monster was also excellent.... just the right mix of pathos, humor and terror. LOVED the electricity buzzing around his head!
Wolfy didn't have all that much screen time, but he was appropriately scary with the best transformation scenes ever.
Kate Beckinsale was there pretty much for her looks (which was ok with me). Although her accent was terrible, it was easy to overlook considering the campiness of the movie.
Hugh Jackman's Van Helsing was superb... fine acting sometimes, and you'd swear he's looking and winking at the camera the next. He seemed to truly have a feel for the intent of the picture.
The sets were incredible.... just perfect on all counts. The sequence where they are flying down the mountainous road in the coach (and all that went with it) was gorgeous to look at and exhilarating to watch. The castles, the village..... Just WOW!
Understand that it's INTENDED to be campy, yet pay proper respects to the monsters of old, all the while with great effects and a decent story. IT"S NOT INTENDED TO BE "GANDHI!" Really fun, popcorn eating, extravaganza. 4.5 out of 5 stars for me.
