(This post originally appeared in somewhat different form on December 12, 2004.)
Tonight we watched VAN HELSING. A fairly entertaining movie, I thought, but boy, is it frantic. Running, jumping, shooting, fighting monsters, getting in all the scenes that'll work to adapt for the video game, piling on the CGI and special effects . . . Well, it just wore me out after a while. Some REH fans think that the movie stole Hugh Jackman's look from Solomon Kane, and I can see that with the big hat and the black duster. That's all that seemed Howard-influenced to me, though. Kate Beckinsale looks great, especially in the first shot where we see her, when she's drawing her sword. My biggest problem with the movie is the legacy of Mel Brooks. Every time somebody calls Igor by name, I halfway expected him to say, "That's EYE-gor!" And of course I kept thinking that the Frankenstein Monster was going to break into a chorus of "Puttin' on the Ritz".
Ah, well . . . I think I've seen all of Stephen Sommers' films. Each one has gotten more elaborate and piled on the special effects, and each one has been a little weaker than the one before it, in my opinion. I liked THE JUNGLE BOOK a lot and loved THE MUMMY. Sommers just needs to have his characters take a breath now and then and try to work in a little more actual story. But then, who am I to be telling anybody how to make movies?
I've seen YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN enough times I ought to know it by heart. In my younger days I almost got in a fight at a midnight showing of it one time when an obnoxious teenager got past my last nerve.
Since Time Warner took CBS off our airways they have replaced it with all the Starz channels (at least for the moment). Anyway, if anyone is interested I noticed that VAN HELSING is showing several times this week on Starz.
The Dracula character in Van Helsing sounded like Count Chocula, just too silly, and completely missing the poetry of a Lugosi or the menace of a Chris Lee or even a Gary Oldman.
7 comments:
Your young Frankenstein knowledge is impeccable. :)
I've seen YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN enough times I ought to know it by heart. In my younger days I almost got in a fight at a midnight showing of it one time when an obnoxious teenager got past my last nerve.
I put this in the same category as The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, which I also liked. What can I say? I like junky action movies.
RJR
A film I thought was pretty darn good. And, of course, Kate Beckinsale. Nuff said.
Nuff said, indeed.
Since Time Warner took CBS off our airways they have replaced it with all the Starz channels (at least for the moment). Anyway, if anyone is interested I noticed that VAN HELSING is showing several times this week on Starz.
Just FYI.
Jeff M.
The Dracula character in Van Helsing sounded like Count Chocula, just too silly, and completely missing the poetry of a Lugosi or the menace of a Chris Lee or even a Gary Oldman.
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