The opening is cheezy and grandiose, and just plain bad.
And, for the most part, so is the rest of the movie.
I could (and did) write a page of notes on its flaws, but in editing mode they have been whittled down (and tidied up).
The positives: Gary Oldman (good and creepy as usual) as Dracula and Anthony Hopkins (just as good) as Van Helsing. And some guy I don’t recognize as Renfield, though his part is small.
The negatives: Every single thing Keanu Reeves says and does (the accent is laughable and the acting follows suit), Winona Ryder (not nearly as bad but still mediocre and unconvincing), often cheezy FX, bordering-on-silly grandiosity, and parts of the script which even Oldman can’t save.
On a more visceral (my new favorite word) note, I find myself feeling sympathy for Oldman’s Dracula (as is intended) because his love is true, as he demonstrates at several points; and also because of the very real sense of doom he must exist with.
Van Helsing draws my sympathies from discipline, bravery, and (most importantly by far) the belief that he does what he does because he believes and cares, not because he enjoys. Hopkins’ acting makes this clear well before the quote below does so.
Other notes: 40 minutes in my only real hope was that Hopkins would save it…Dracula’s come-on to Ryder hovers just above Torgo-ish in nature.
There are a few moving moments in the movie, but overall the intended majestic gestures are an exercise in “gothic” pomposity.
Without Hopkins, indeed, I would find it virtually unwatchable.
Inspirational Quote: “He was in life a most remarkable man, and his mind was great and powerful…but greater is the necessity to stamp him out and destroy him utterly.”
Grade: D