Van Helsing: The London Assignment

There's this so called one word review: awesome!

This is a good model by how short animes should be made. Lots of action, very nice scenes featuring some more interactive combat action. Hugh Jackman made a good choice by lending his voice to the main character, Van Helsing and as I'm seeing this the day after I saw the full movie piece at the cinema, it just feels incredibly well done, Carl, Gabriel, all it's characters are in shape, just as I would imagine them myself animated.

Just see this, I did love it, but perhaps it might be because I saw the full piece yesterday, I don't know. Anyhow, this is a remarkable piece in the short anime category section, well worth it's 30 minutes!

Van Helsing – The London Assignment (2004)

Universal – DVD – D: Sharon Bridgeman – 3 / 4

An 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.

Hi I'm Katie and I live in Hull. All I wanted to say was that I totally love van Hesling the film especially with Hugh Jackman in it. He is so fit and it just wouldn't be right without him in it. I have rated this film a ten because I just love it I have the film the book and the ps2 game. My bedroom is full of Hugh Jackman and van Helsing posters. You can't even see my walls. I am one of Hugh's best fan. And Anna out of the film is also great. I think she's really pretty and I wish I could meet them all. That would be fantastic. I can't go see them because I am only 13 and if I were an adult I would go all over just to see them. I love the film van Helsing I cant stop talking about it at school my friends get sick of me. My computer is full of it all u can see when you open my file is Hugh Jackman or Anna or sometimes both of them. At school on my computer as well I have loads of photos of him. I get more and more of them when I go on the Internet at school. That's only when we are allowed on it. I am totally mad about Hugh and I think nearly everybody in my family and my mates know as well. They say I am mad. Because they don't like him but then I just say that it's my life and nobody can change it. But they still go on about it at me saying that he's ugly and stuff so I just ignore them and say that I love him and it doesn't matter if they don't love him I do. But they say I'm mad and I am mad...about him. Nobody can change my feelings for him and nobody can put me off him either so it's going to be like this forever. But I am stopping talking about my self and talking about the film. I love it when he and Anna are together and he kisses her and she kisses him. And I like his voice in it too I think it makes him sound even sexier than he is now and he looks fit in long hair and leather suits and jackets. I just love the film if I named all the parts I like in the story a person who is reading this would be there all day and all night. But I love this film because of the man and the women but I also love this film because I love action romance horror and I love the people who are in it. But I also love the film because when things happen in the film when I want them to that is great too. But the ending is very sad and I will always remember that to. But she should have stayed alive I think then there could have been a van Helsing 2 out but with a different monster in it like the screaming women who's scream is so loud they kill a human. That would be good but if it did come out again it would have had to have Anna in it and the same person otherwise it wouldn't be right. Instead of Dracula. But all of the film is really good overall that is.but this is the bets film I ever saw because normally horrors are scary but I don't think this is a scary horror but that's OK because most girls like me like horrors like this.i think Hugh is a great man and actor in this but he is great anyway so it doesn't matter. He cant do anything wrong he just the best. And the same goes to Kate (Anna) she is beautiful and the best and a great actress Hugh and Kate make a good acting couple in the film. I am looking at Hugh on the computer now at his pictures on the internet and Anna they both look good in the film together it is just a great film with them to in. if they were not in it would really not be a film. If I have already said that just ignore I am saying stuff weird today for some strange reason. But I think the film is absolutely great when i was talking about how my friends go on at me my family does to they get on my nerves to my mum and dad do anyway saying take your posters off the walls you cant see them but I don't so I think my mum and dad have given up. But my sis goes on at me saying how could you love him he's a right ugly, Katie but I just ignore her she worse than my mates. But I do not listen to them when they talk to me in that subject like that. But the person that got me on to the film van Helsing is my English teacher because we watched the film loads of times in the class and I just started loving it the first time I saw it. Sir doesn't know about me liking him but he most probably gets to know tomorrow my friends cant keep secrets at all especially when its about love and girl stuff like that but if it s really private they wont say out. But they will this time.but when I was talking about the van Helsing 2 about how I make it up is because I write stories about things I imagine but when I go to bed that's what gives me ideas because when I sleep I dream and I get my ideas from my dreams and I have started writing a story about van Helsing 2 I think its going to be great. So I am giving it the rate of 10 which is Excellent!

It is an excellent short movie. Van Helsing look much better than the live action movie. And In the animated short movies Van Helsing already have all those weapon what he used latter in the live action movie. I just like it. But I think instead of a short animated movie, they should made a full length animated movie. They could have tell the doctor story about how he started his laboratory and research. How he met the queen of England. They could have told the story about how Van Helsing become a monster hunter. There is just so many story to tell. If they could just make a animated series of Van Helsing, it would be much much better. I have seen many short movies but Van Helsing: The London Assignment was one of the best. Universal Picture should consider to make an full length animated movie based on Van Helsing. People would love it.

It's worth a rent. The art is not as bad as people here have been making it out to be. (If you want to see truly bad animation, watch Hunchback of Notre Dame 2). It wasn't, you know, Shinichirô Watanabe or Hayao Miyazaki but it had a more adult look then American made kids cartoons. The animation was real similar to what you see on X-Men Evolution, only much darker and grittier. Oddly enough, It looks almost like they're emulating the anime Helsing in color tone.

The acting is limited by the time. Hugh Jackman is a novice at voice acting and it sort of shows. He sounds a little wooden. David Wenham is very nice and has the best lines in the cartoon. ("No real lady would be caught dead wi-- perhaps not the best choice of words...") However, Robbie Coltrane was sorely underused. His vocal characterization of Mr Hyde was so great in that opening scene of the film and in this you can barely tell its him he has so few lines.

The plot is almost better than the films, and contains a lot more history and the steam-punk like flair that made me love the film and other things like Leauge of Extrordinary Gentlemen (Not the movie though.. it was horrid). I wish they had made it a full length animated feature, because the plot definitely had room to be expanded into 90 minutes.

In all, it was very good for an American produced adult animation. Too bad Universal is connected with Nickelodian and not Turner Broadcasting's Cartoon Network, because I think a Vanhelsing Animated series would play really well in Adult Swim.