Van Helsing: The London Assignment (2004)

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Blistering performances.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

"The London Assignment" is an animated short film that runs for roughly half an hour and came out almost the exact same time as the movie about the title character Van Helsing. Hugh Jackman also does the voice acting in this one here and there are a couple more familiar names such as Robbie Coltrane from the Harry Potter movies or Tara Strong who has been extremely prolific in voice acting for a long time now. Unfortunately, I was not impressed really by any of the aspects in this film. That includes the story, the characters and the animation. The only thing that director Sharon Bridgeman sort-of succeeded with was making this a fairly atmospheric watch and it was an interesting combination of the supernatural aspects and very traditional aspects history-wise such as Queen Victoria. But that's pretty much it. I would recommend this only to the most hardcore fans of Van Helsing. Everybody else does not need to see it.

This was actually a really interesting storyline, acting similar to a prequel for the live action movie. (And if you have not seen the live action show, then go and see it!) Yet, if you haven't seen the actual live action show, you will not miss anything in this one. Helsing is sent on assignment by the Vatican to find a killer in London who was using dark arts. I love how they created the story, making some things seem as though they lumped Jack the Ripper and Hyde together.There are some problems I have with the cartoon vs. Live action though. In the cartoon, they give Hyde a reason for killing the people he did, he killed only women and took their souls to make the Queen young. In the Live action, he has killed numerous people including men and animals along with the women. In fact, he had killed more men then women. They do not explain why he did so, so naturally it gives him more of a monstrous thought to our heads. Also, when they do meet, Hyde seems to have not much understanding of who Helsing is although in the Cartoon, they do meet and get rather close to each other. I do like the little intention that they did meet at one time in London vive the bullet wound in Hyde's arm, but other then that, its as though they have not met. Also, Carl had already been following Helsing in London so why did he not go to Paris with him to follow after Hyde. When we do see Carl, he seems to not know anything about going out with Helsing to fight.The artwork looks a lot like a comic book rendition of the characters in the show, giving it the same air as another that I looked at called Mosaic (from Stan Lee). Even though its pretty good, there are some problems where most of the backgrounds are really well detailed making the characters seem to fall flat at times. There are also some really strange lines that come from under the eyes and down the cheek on most of the characters, and sadly, it looks as though they have been cut there. It's odd because no piece of the human body would make that line on the face. When there is some slight CG to the show, it does look pretty good though stands out. It doesn't 'fit' as it were. The last few clips are actually done way to fast, like the frames were placed in a little wrong.The voices are the same as the movie and so of course match the fun and laughter that you get within the movie as well as the deep drama. Hugh Jackman has one of the most epic voices along with the small witty nature that works well with Helsing, David Wenham has the perfect witty counter voice to Jackman even if he can get a bit whinny, and Robbie Coltrane has a rather strong voice for Hyde. Now for the voices only in this cartoon version, I wasn't that keen on Tara Strong's rendition of Young Queen Victoria. She just seemed rather stupid and more childish then she should of.

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.

This over all prequel to the motion picture is just an overblown fluff piece that could have been saved or perhaps will show up on the eventual DVD release of Van Helsing.The animated feature is nicely done and the sound is great. The supliments are more or less a kind of press junket for the feature film follow-up.At only a half-hour running time, you wish is was at least 80 mins. Hugh Jackman and the cast provide voice talent to bring this 'teaser' to life.3 1/2 stars out of 5