Van Helsing

Van Helsing
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.

The Film
I sat down, and what I saw was extemely childish, coupled with a double helping of cheddar. The acting was so unconvincing, they seemed half a beat away from winking at the audience. What I was watching was the trailer for Thunderbirds.
Van Helsing though, did have Hugh Jackman seeming to nod at the audience, almost ready to smile, moslty contained at the beginning. He knew the type of film he was in. The film is about half an hour too long, but doesn't seem to drag. What I mean is it's fairly fast paced, and every scene seems to add something to the film (mostly in the form of overcranked CG). If you just sit down and engage autopilot, it's actually quite fun, a nice surprise for me. Another surprise I found was the amount of flinchy people about that threw their popcorn about whenever a monster entered the frame, but I suppose that's the intention, but it did end up being more entertaining than the film.
They've gone a little too heavy on CG. Not that I mind it, but all the monsters were a little overwhelming. They maybe should've stuck to just the vampires, although even they seemed to be a little overkill. The ending is at first surprising (I'll not spoil it), but then when you think back there were hints most of the way through, but if you missed them (I was busy being entertained by everyone jumping, remember), you'll probably be expecting something else. But it's generally predictable, and it's just like every other film of this type that makes us Brits sound like idiots (we don't sound anything like that in real life, and I wonder if the makers have ever been to England).
Overall, just try to be entertained by its no-brain action and it may succeed for you, but the fairly poor use of actors (the CG just drowns them out) is a disappointment, and the film also could've been so much better.
Film: ⁶/₁₀