Van Helsing- How bad will it suck?

[WayAbvPar]

Official website

All indications are that they took a fun, interesting idea and Hollywooded the hell out of it. I am willing to bet that there will be some 'Ohh...Cool!' moments, but they will be drowned out by the overwhelming stench of suck that will pervade this film.

Pity- I think the potential is there.

[schild]

How can you miss this nugget.

...or the upcoming TV show.

On a sidenote this movie may be fun to look at, but I'm confident it will be a steaming pile of shit.

[Hanzii]

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen but with more monstarrs!!11!1! that's how bad.

[Alluvian]

And special effects that somehow manage to look even WORSE than those in League.  UGH.  Their CGI looks like SHIT.  Or to be more accurate, it does not fit in worth shit with the rest of the filmstock and stands out like a sore thumb.  Bad lighting on the 3d models most likely.

[HaemishM]

/meh. I think it'll be fine, so long as I go in with zero expectations and do not think too hard about it.

[kaid]

I watched house of the dead. Van helsing will rock compared to it!


Kaid

[Censorship]

I watched house of the dead. Van helsing will rock compared to it!

Having survived Pitch Black, I can safely say ditto.

[schild]

Whoa there bucko. What was wrong with Pitch Black? Given the budget of the movie and no reputation for Vin Diesel going into it, I thought it approached art.

[Rasix]

Whoa there bucko. What was wrong with Pitch Black? Given the budget of the movie and no reputation for Vin Diesel going into it, I thought it approached art.

Has Vin Diesel done anything to improve his reputation since Pitch Black? Really, the guy's been in more shitty movies than John Travolta lately.

[schild]

Don't judge an actors past movies on his present movies. Or else you run into situations like this:

Robin Williams was in Death to Smoochy. Sure, he did The Fisher King, The Birdcage, and Good Will Hunting but he's pissed all over his career with his current turn to weirdness.

Not the best example because One Hour Photo was pretty much awesome, but I think you get the point.

[Rasix]

I don't think I was judging his past movie.  For the record I've never seen Pitch Black (kind of want to, I heard it's pretty decent).

But I'll stand by what I said: Vin Diesel has been in a lot of shitty movies lately.  Commercially popular some of them, but all have been crap.

[schild]

Agreed. But go see Pitch Black. It shows that he makes a viable actor when given something decent to work with. Riddick, in that movie, is one of my favorite heroes/anti-heroes of all time (somewhere in the top 20 below 10).

[Alluvian]

I suspect all of our opinions of riddick will slump greatly with chronicles of riddick.  It looks like utter shit in the trailers.  Hope it is decent but damn I have 0 hope.  I am more likely to enjoy the schlock campyness of Sky Captain based on trailers.

I liked Pitch Black.  I went back and watched all the commentary tracks, and that is a pretty good sign I really liked the movie.  I would not call it art, but it was a good survival horror/action flick for sure.  More action than horror for sure.

Actually I watched all the directors commentary for Jeepers Creepers 2 recently as well.  A surprisingly good film actually and both commentaries were pretty funny.

Regarding Vin, I think it is the way you phrased it that brought up the question:

Given the budget of the movie and no reputation for Vin Diesel going into it, I thought it approached art

You imply that since this movie Vin has gotten a good reputation.  I don't frankly see that.  I think he got a good reputation FOR this movie... But since then, christ has he been in even ONE decent film?  I can't think of any.

The Rock frankly has as many movie action star credentials in my book as Vin at this point.  Vin is too generic for me unless he has a good script to work from.  He does not seem to have any skill to save a bad part/film.  I won't say the Rock CAN do those things.  He can't either.  It's why I put them in the same category.  Disposable action hero people.  Stick Vin in the serious roles and Rock in the humorously self depraciating ones so he can have fun with his eyebrows.

We will see how chronicles of riddick goes.  Could make or break him.

[schild]

I implied that Vin Diesel had no reputation before Pitch Black and that I didn't go into it thinking "Oh jesus christ, that guy from XxX, shoot me, in the face, right now."

[HaemishM]

I actually like Vin Diesel, but then I don't expect more out of him that what he's shown he's capable of. Think "Fast and the Furious" and expect no acting ability whatsoever, and you just about have it.

[WayAbvPar]

The only time I recall seeing Vin Diesel in a movie is in Saving Private Ryan. He did a fine job of getting shot in the neck.

The rest of the movies I have seen him headline look like utter and complete shyte, so I haven't wasted the time and/or money to see them.

[UD_Delt]

Actually I watched all the directors commentary for Jeepers Creepers 2 recently as well. A surprisingly good film actually and both commentaries were pretty funny.

I felt dirty after watching that movie and finding out the director, Victor Salva, is a convicted pedophile. Looking back at the movie and all the half naked young boys running around and this perv directing it really creeped me out. I can't imagine listening to his commentary.

[Alluvian]

Don't follow much cinema news so was not aware of that.  Anyways, he didn't really say much on the commentary.  The 'directors' commentary was really all the cast instead.  He would just ask a few questions to get them going maybe once every 20 mins or so.

Anyway, I understand now what you meant schild.

The statement was abit blurry initially since it did not show whether you had a positive or negative feeling of Vin's post-pitch black career.  Now I guess I should have assumed that since nodoby in their right mind would see just his non-pitch black work and think he was a good actor.  But you could have gone temporarily insane.  I think that is known to happen in Bat Country.

[Snowspinner]

I weirdly enjoyed xXx. It knew what it was trying to achieve, and it wasted no time going about it.

[Fargull]

Enjoyed Vin Diesel in both Boilerroom and Pitch Black, he has better acting skills over the Rock in my opinion, but then maybe that is still aiming at the bottom of the barrel.

I am looking forward to Van Helsing.

[cevik]

Enjoyed Vin Diesel in both Boilerroom and Pitch Black, he has better acting skills over the Rock in my opinion, but then maybe that is still aiming at the bottom of the barrel.

The only Vin Diesel movie I've seen was Boiler Room and I liked it quite a bit.  Of course that had little or nothing to do with Vin Diesel and a lot to do with it being a good movie..

[Shockeye]

The only Vin Diesel movie I've seen was Boiler Room and I liked it quite a bit.  Of course that had little or nothing to do with Vin Diesel and a lot to do with it being a good movie..

My favorite Vin Diesel movie would have to be "The Iron Giant". It had almost nothing to do with Vin and everything to do with being a good movie.

[Signe]

Oh dear.  I thought Vin Diesel WAS the Rock!  Surely, they must be related.  I think I need to get out more.  

Don't make fun of me!  I am feeling fragile and emotional today.

[stray]

Can anyone name me a good monster movie where the Hero was actually the cooler character, and not the Monster? This movie actually attempts that. Van Helsing is only cool in Dracula movies, not in "Van Helsing" movies.

Yeah, it will suck.

This is coming from the guy who brought us the Mummy and the Scorpion King. Probably a good rule of thumb somewhere in that..

[Shockeye]

He also brought us "Deep Rising". While on some levels I enjoyed that movie, I could never buy Treat Williams as a quasi-action hero.

[Merusk]

Can anyone name me a good monster movie where the Hero was actually the cooler character, and not the Monster?

Brotherhood of the Wolf falls into that category, IMO.

Vin's movies are crappy popcorn flics. If you enjoy that and aren't looking for deeper meaning they're not too bad.  Plus, I tend to like Vin himself because he's just a huge geek who's managed to get a Hollywood career as sometihng other than a CGI jockey.

[Daydreamer]

Can anyone name me a good monster movie where the Hero was actually the cooler character, and not the Monster?

Evil Dead 2.  Then again, no monster of any sort could ever be cooler than Bruce Campbell.

[Fargull]

Can anyone name me a good monster movie where the Hero was actually the cooler character, and not the Monster?

Big Trouble in Little China.  Jack Burton was the cool till Ash came along.

Course, I guess you could argue that Big Trouble was more a kung fu flick than a monster movie, but you can not argue that Jack was not cool.

[Morfiend]

Agreed. But go see Pitch Black. It shows that he makes a viable actor when given something decent to work with. Riddick, in that movie, is one of my favorite heroes/anti-heroes of all time (somewhere in the top 20 below 10).

Another thing about Pitch Black that you guys are forgetting is that is was a pretty good space scifi movie during a period when scifi was just about non-existant. That helped it score higher with me, as I was very supprised at how cool the movie was.

I have my fingers crossed for Roddick, but my expecations are pretty low.

[Comstar]

I'm probably the only one here, but I thought Pitch black was a really crappy movie and Disel was the worst part of it. It had no redeeming qualties whatsoever.

[stray]

Big Trouble in Little China. Jack Burton was the cool till Ash came along.

Course, I guess you could argue that Big Trouble was more a kung fu flick than a monster movie, but you can not argue that Jack was not cool.

No I won't argue. I am definitely wrong. Same with Ash.

[Fargull]

Another thing about Pitch Black that you guys are forgetting is that is was a pretty good space scifi movie during a period when scifi was just about non-existant. That helped it score higher with me, as I was very supprised at how cool the movie was.

I have my fingers crossed for Roddick, but my expecations are pretty low.

Hmm... Good point.  I think it also scored big points because no one from the cast really stood out as previous 'star' material.  Most of those I recognized I had considered character actors, not red carpet material.  The problem with Roddick or Riddick or whatever it is going to be called is that now hollywood thinks Vin is the shiz they are going to tailor the movie around making sure his mug is in 80% of the flick.

[Riggswolfe]

Can anyone name me a good monster movie where the Hero was actually the cooler character, and not the Monster? This movie actually attempts that. Van Helsing is only cool in Dracula movies, not in "Van Helsing" movies.

I can name several off the top of my head

Pitch Black "I ain't the one you need to fear anymore" "It looks clear"
Evil Dead 1 & 2 and Army of Darkness "Good, bad, I'm the one with the gun"
Aliens, Ripley was scarier than the Alien. Of course, obsessive women do that to me.

[Riggswolfe]

And for the record I am looking forward to Van Helsing. then again, I don't go into movies looking for deeper meaning, I go into movies looking to be entertained and I think this one will entertain me.

hugh jackman to root for
kate beckinsale to drool for
stephen somers to make it over the top action with some comedy.

I'm there.

[SurfD]

Just for the record, I liked it.