You know how Highlander IV was a surprisingly good movie until about the final third, where it all inexplicably fell apart? Well, probably not, because I think I was one of the six people in the world who saw it, but nevermind that. The theatre release (I haven’t seen the director’s cut) just dissolved into a total lack of a story in the last act.
Van Helsing was like that, except exactly the other way around. It was unmitigatingly awful and then somehow pulled it all together for a startlingly good final act. I spent a serious chunk of the movie thinking, “Man, this is the worst movie I’ve seen in a *long* time,” and by the time it was over I was thinking, “OK, I’d probably go see that again.”
Now, I went in expecting it to be terrible. Enjoyable but terrible. I loved the opening sequence (which was not separated from the rest of the film by the credits; there were no credits for the movie until the end. A good thought, I think.), which was filmed in black and white and which was melodramatic and over the top and quite wonderful 50s horror pastiche.
Unfortunately, at least for me, most of the characters continued in the melodramatic over-the-top horror pastiche vein, and while I like a good melodrama as much as any theatre geek, it was all A Little Too Much.
And then the end totally pulled together. I don’t know if I suddenly got used to it or if it got toned down, but with the exception of one shot near the very end that I found actively offensive, the last thirty minutes of the movie completely rocked.
There were *many* moments of quite wonderful special effects. The Brides were great. The Frankenstein Monster was not only well done in SFX terms, but was heartbreaking in characterization. Very, *very* nicely done. Van Helsing was pretty damned entertaining with his smart-ass dry wit, and the guy who played the sidekick whose name I don’t know (but he was Faromir in LotR) was terribly cute. Kate Beckinsdale was awful, and for anybody who’s keeping track, Selene would totally kick Anna’s ass. :)
But I’ve got a date with Deen on Monday to go see it again, and I’m kind of looking forward to it. :)
Ok, time to print out US.
miles to Rivendell: 433
I admit that Kate’s costume distracted me from her acting. :) I think that Sommers did a good job of getting that melodramatic feeling of the old Univeral horror movies that he was aiming for. There was nice coverage of the ‘conflicted wolfman’ hommage to Lon Chaney (sp). The Monster was wonderful and used entirely too sparingly. I /loved/ the vampire effects and how they handled the vampire interactions, but I’m still on the fence about how I feel about how Dracula’s role was played.
But I went in expecting to enjoy the movie and came out feeling as if I had enjoyed the movie, so I didn’t feel like I’d wasted my money. :)
So – do you think parents of a certain age would enjoy it?
You very nearly summarize my own feelings of the movie after seeing it. Good job. (We noted at dinner afterwards how you could actually remove Kate Beckinsale’s character ENTIRELY and do no meaningful damage to the film.)
-R
And another thing: I keep calling it Van Helsing Versus the Army of Darkness. It has a vaguely similar vibe, intentionally or otherwise.
-R
I gave up COMPLETELY on the movie at the Wolverine reference.