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Epic tale of an explosive monster - hunter
In the movie, Van Helsing (Hugh Jackman) is a monster hunter especially on the trail of legendary blood sucker Count Dracula (Richard Roxburgh). Bram Stoker’s novel depicted, Van Helsing as 60 years old and his first name was Abraham. He’s been a character in countless movies, but no one’s ever done a movie centered on him. What Sommers has done to him is changing his name to Gabriel and made him younger and cooler in a sense, portraying Van Helsing as the younger brother to Stoker’s character. He’s now working for an ancient, secret society as a bounty hunter. A gun for hire, a mercenary who is out to vanquish evil and Count Dracula the evil incarnate, making a very attractive quarry for Van Helsing.” Enter Anna Valerious (Kate Beckinsale) a gypsy princess and monster hunter in her own right to supplement Helsing’s role. Introduced as one of the last living members of an ancient family committed to the pursuit and destruction of Dracula in order to lift a curse that’s hung over her family for generations. The movie line goes with Van Helsing assigned to the dangerous assignment ever and he is a man with no past travels to a region in Eastern Europe to bring down the immortal Dracula. But Dracula is not alone the story writers have provided him with creepy but powerful allies, including Frankenstein’s Monster, the Wolfman and the three sexy Brides of Dracula with the ability of flight. Trained by monks and mullahs from Istanbul to Tibet and equipped with an awesome arsenal of monster-killing weaponry, “creep-stoppers,” as the director calls them, Sommers fashioned a younger, hipper, cooler Van Helsing, feared by evil in all its forms, as well as by some of the innocent, who see only a brutal murderer in him. The choice of Jackman is justified by the director as “someone that women would love and guys would trust,” “Van Helsing is a reluctant hero,” elaborates Jackman. “He’s very much the outsider, carrying out solitary missions for a secret worldwide organization. When it comes to battling monsters, this is what he was born to do. He’s got a great gift for it. When he’s in a battle situation, everything just becomes calm and fear becomes a non existent entity”. In 1999, Jackman was named “Australian Star of the Year” at the Australian Movie Convention. But it was the role of Mutant Wolverine in X- Men and X- Men United saw the Australian born actor taking on Hollywood stardom and international fame. Beckinsale the actress who showed she could do more than hold her own in the recent action movie Underworld continues her monster hunting thirst. Thanks to Stephen’s writing, Anna doesn’t suddenly become a dopey, heaving-bosom girl. She and Van Helsing remain equals right up to the end. According to the Director , “I gave Van Helsing a motivating back story. The character, as I imagined him, doesn’t know who he is or where he is in his life. He doesn’t remember anything about his past. And while Van Helsing is a hero, he’s also the most wanted man in the land. He kills monsters that people are starting not to believe in any more we’re nearing the end of the 19th century and the dawn of a more reasoned, enlightened period. When Van Helsing kills a werewolf, for example, the monster turns back into a human at the moment of his death. Van Helsing is left standing over the body of a gentle old man. So, people naturally have some serious misgivings about Van Helsing and what he’s up to.” The movies celebrated asset is the reinterpreted mythology of the legendary filmic creatures especially the creation of Dracula’s ultimate form as the Hellbeast, a gigantic, winged demon fully deserving of its name. The filmmaker muses, “In the old movies, Dracula turns into a bat but what do you think of a bat with a 15-foot wingspan? See it all in Van Helsing including the all-Star monster team created with a $160 million budget and six months of filming. |
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By
Harinda Vidanage