|
|
|
| Van Helsing: The London Assignment DVD Review |
|
Order this DVD from Amazon.com
|
Van Helsing: The London Assignment
(Universal Studios Home Video)
|
| DVD Release Date:
|
May 11, 2004
|
| Length:
|
33 mins.
|
| Rated:
|
PG
|
| Format:
|
Widescreen (2.20:1)
|
| Audio:
|
Dolby 5.1 Surround English
|
| Subtitles:
|
French, Spanish Subtitles, English Captions
|
| Extras:
|
"Van Helsing: Behind the Screams" Featurette, Animatic to Animation Feature, Hugh Jackman Interview, "The Making of the Van Helsing Game" Featurette
|
After a week in theatrical release, Van Helsing is a bit of a question mark. The movie opened solidly, but overall, people don't have too many good things to say about it. Personally, I haven't seen it (probably tomorrow) but my expectations aren't too high. I'm well informed enough to know not to expect too much. Not that I think it'll be bad - just that it's a popcorn flick - nothing more. My only real expectation is to be entertained. Luckily for me, I'll be a bit more prepared after watching Van Helsing: The London Assignment.
The London Assignment is an animated prequel to the theatrical release. The story centers around Van Helsing and his fight against Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde. Turns out Dr. Jekyll is Queen Victoria's personal physician - and he's also in love with her. So, he dispatches his alter ego Mr. Hyde on a murderous rampage in order to collect the souls of his victims. He then uses the souls to make the Queen younger - and to satisfy his own lust for her. So, the Vatican dispatches Van Helsing for The London Assignment - to bring down this monster. After a failed attempt at capturing Mr. Hyde, people begin to suspect that VH is in fact the murderer - so he really has two assignments - to capture Hyde and to prove his own innocence.
If The London Assignment is any indication of how much I'm going to enjoy the feature film, I shouldn't be too disappointed. However, what really caught my eye here was the animation. I'm not big into animation, so I'm not all that qualified to offer any criticism, but what I saw here was quite good. There were points where the mixture of animation and CG were a bit at odds (ie. the train crash) but overall, I was rather impressed. As well, the story was engaging and it's nice to have the voice of Van Helsing provided by Hugh Jackman, who also portrays our hero in the live action adventure.
For the DVD, there's a few interesting special features. First, there's a featurette titled "Van Helsing: Behind the Screams". I figured this one had to do with The London Assignment, but I was wrong. This is a full-blown behind-the-scenes look at the making of the theatrical release. Even when it started and became obvious they wouldn't be talking about this animated prequel, I thought it would be a brief look - but no. Running just under 30 minutes, this is the real deal. I fully expect to see this featurette again some day on the DVD release of the live-action film. Josie Maran (one of Dracula's brides) hosts as we get a look at several aspect of the movie, including the story, the characters, the creating of the monsters and the effects work. If anything, I was a bit concerned that this featurette gave away a few plot points that I would have rather not known going into the movie, but it's very much worth a look.
Second, we get a feature titled "Animatic to Animation" which is basically a look at storyboards from The London Assignment, and how they were translated into the actual film. No commentary or introduction here, which would have been nice. This would be my biggest criticism of this DVD. There's really no look at the making of this animated adventure from the animators themselves.
Next, there's a brief interview with Hugh Jackman where he talks about voicing our hero and the work that went into it. He talks about the differences between playing the live action character versus voicing the animated version of himself, and how he could have more fun with the animated character because there's no need to limit himself physically for the role.
Finally, there's a featurette titled "The Making of the Van Helsing Game". I'm not much of a games person, so this really wasn't of much interest to me. However, I will say that it did look rather cool. If anything, it made me feel a little old. Video games have apparently changed a lot since I last picked up a joystick. (Do they even call them joysticks anymore?) And again, I'm worried this feature gave away some more plot points.
Overall, I'd recommend checking out this DVD. I'll have to wait until seeing the feature film before passing judgment on which is better, but hopefully, if this animated film is any indication, the theatrical release should be fun. Add to that some fun features, and you've got a decent DVD. Beware though - if you haven't seen the feature film and don't want to know anything about it before going in, steer clear of this disc's bonus materials.
| The
Movie: |
  |
7/10 |
| The
Extras: |
|
7/10 |
|
|
|
What did you think?
Have your say on our Message Boards...
Click here for more information on Van Helsing
Liam Cullin - Editor
More Reviews - Click Here
|
|
|
|
|
