Truly Dreadful Film

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Considering the very cartoony nature of the Van Helsing movie, it is not surprising that Van Helsing would translate better to animation than in a live action film.The writing and plot in this short animated film is on par with the actual movie(campiness and corny humour included) and serves as a lead in to the opening act of Van Helsing. Though its about a mysterious string of supernatural murders, the film eschews mystery in favor of straight forward action. Most of the time is spent on elaborately animated chase sequences.Which brings me to the animation. Boasting a dark gritty look, CGI backgrounds blended seamlessly with the cel drawn characters, the animation is really well done stuff in this case. Though the level of detail on the character models are quite minimal, the CGI backgrounds are rich and full of body and texture and the animation itself is smooth, utilizing a decently high frame rate in the action sequences. The chase on the train is by far one of the best animated sequences i've seen in a direct to video prequel feature. Some scenes do show some inconsistent quality here and there, like the underground cavern scene with the zombie knights, but those are largely forgettable.Alas, the film is really too short for its intriguing plot to properly unfold or to get any development from the main characters. It keeps the flaws of its live action counterpart, such as a over emphasis on action and less so on narrative and character depth, which is a huge pity. I would have given a higher rating if the animated film was longer and the characters, better developed.Van Helsing would have fared better as an animated miniseries as opposed to a big budget action movie. Overall, a beautifully animated short film with a simple, straight forward, easy to follow plot.

Van Helsing – The London Assignment (2004)Universal – DVD – D: Sharon Bridgeman – 3 / 4An evil murderer is stalking the streets of London killing women and stealing their very life essence. Mr. Hyde is doing the handiwork for his doctor alter ego Jekyll who is using the lifeforce to make his beloved Queen Victoria young again. The Vatican sends out its' secret weapon Gabriel Van Helsing to handle the beast and save the man. I wasn't too fond of the Van Helsing film but I did enjoy this animated prequel more. The animation is decent the singular plot of Mr. Hyde is better than the convoluted and constipated form of the sequel.

I have seen "The London assignment" and it is a pretty good movie but i think that it is too short. if they worked out the story just a little bit more and took out some of the action (not that i hate action in a movie, but because the movie would been better if the story was more developed).For the rest this movie rocked, and is a very good prequel to "Van Helsing".There are also a few anachronisms between the to movies: like Van Helsing already has the gass-powered crossbow in "The London assignment" but in "Van Helsing" he still got to get it.But I would give this movie a big thumbs up.

It occurs to me that Universal missed a trick with "Van Helsing: The London Assignment" - this animated featurette may as well have been released with "Van Helsing" as a supporting feature. On the other hand, that might not have been the best idea, since this is considerably easier to get through than the overblown and underinteresting movie... if only because there's less of it.Essentially setting up the Parisian showdown between Van Helsing and Mr. Hyde that kicks off the live-action extravaganza, the short subject indulges in the same advantage-taking of famed fictional characters as the movie - like the appalling Anthony Perkins vehicle "Edge Of Sanity," writers Judith Reeves-Stevens and Garfield Reeves-Stevens take the characters of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and add a bit of Jack the Ripper to the mix - and the same over-the-top action, only with plenty of Asian-flavoured animation in its scenes of violence and murder. Having Hugh Jackman, David Wenham and Robbie Coltrane repeating their roles from the movie (our hero, his assistant Carl and Mr. Hyde respectively) helps, and it's dramatically done, but the movie's biggest plus is that it's more straightforward and less determined to throw everything into the mix than the movie. It passes the time, but with the necessarily abrupt ending and the feeling that this is little more than a(nother) tie-in, it's hard not to be relieved that there won't be a sequel or a followup TV series. Then again, there's a sequel to "Baby Geniuses"...