Beautiful to look at - on occasion and unfortunately thoroughly undone by a messy screenplay, Van Helsing drowns any goodwill it has going for it - the admirable gothic production design, Hugh Jackman's stoic turn as Helsing, and some rare but beautiful shots - in admist a sea of manufactured effects and overblown technicalities that makes it quite hard to otherwise be invested in what should by all accounts be a consistently fun and darkly entertaining adventure.

The editing is a mess. The CGi has not dated well at all. The action sequences are laughable thanks to the kooky monster designs and obviously fake visual effects. The performers are trying - but failing to elevate the script. The direction feels very uninspired and even the score is generic. So why is Van Helsing not rated lower you ask?

Did I mention Hugh Jackman?