Troy

In a Nutshell: Worth seeing once. Pretty well written, fairly well acted, kept my attention. Some excellent eye candy, and the special effects weren't bad either.

Quick Plot: Paris, Prince of Troy, steals the Queen of Sparta from her husband (quite with her permission). The King goes to his brother, who hires Achilles, the greatest warrior ever, to lead the war for her return.

In Detail: I'm glad I saw it, but I don't think I care to see it again. It was borderline on some of the things I don't like about rated R films, but didn't actually cross any of said lines (like violence). Honestly, the thing I disliked the most about the film was the lack of characters for whom I felt sympathy. Hector was the only one I really felt sorry for; the rest of them pretty much deserved what they got. But that was the story, I suppose, no real fault of the film-makers. Some of the acting did involve some eye-rolling. They just can't pull off those cheesy lines the way they used to. But all in all, a pretty good film, worth seeing.

Will I Buy It? I don't think so. There just isn't enough in it, for me personally, to want to watch it over and over.

Van Helsing

In a Nutshell: Quite an interesting story, pretty good execution, with a couple of "I don't think so" moments (even for this die-hard fantasty and sci-fi fan). I wouldn't recommend it for everyone, but monster movie fans (old and new) will probably enjoy it. I would not, however, recommend it for young children, as the monsters do tend towards the frightening.

Quick Plot: Van Helsing, famed monster-hunter, goes to Transylvania to try and save the last remaining members of the Valerious family from eternal damnation, and he hopes to discover some of the secrets of his forgotten past in the process.

In Detail: I really did enjoy the story. It was a very intriguing and convincing way to have all of these classic monster characters interacting with each other, and they even managed to throw in a twist or two on your expectations. Quite refreshing, actually. The problem is that the execution just didn't *quite* live up to the story. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't as good as it could have been, which I always find frustrating. Even the effects, done by the legendary ILM, did not seem to be up to their usual standards. It did, however, make me wonder if they had done it intentionally, to a certain extent, to keep them from being so scary as to pull an R rating (kind-of the same way they did the effects in the Harry Potter films by making them slightly cartoonish). Worth seeing if you like the genre, but I don't recommend it for everyone.

Will I Buy It? Again, I don't think so. There were too many parts that even I didn't watch (you know me and scary movies; I spent some time admiring the ceiling), and I'd rather not own a film that I can't watch several minutes of. It was good, it was interesting; once was enough.