VAN HELSING starts with a bang, even the movie studio's logo a part of a glorious black-and-white intro that wonderfully evokes James Whale's iconic scene of Viktor Frankenstein screaming "It's ALIVE!" as the monster created from pieces of seven men is shocked into life and torch-bearing villagers are getting closer to the castle door. But then Dracula (Richard Roxburgh), who can regenerate when he is wounded, shows up to say, "It's a pity your moment of triumph is being spoiled over a little thing like grave robbery," and things take a surprising turn. A year later, a guy in the coolest fedora since Indiana Jones is fighting a monster. It is Van Helsing (Hugh Jackman), a man who knows that he is here to fight evil, but is not sure why. He seems to remember fighting the Romans at Masada (that would be in about the year 72) but can't remember the details of his past. When asked whether he is a holy man or a murderer, he says, "A bit of both." All he ever needs to know is "What are we dealing with and how do I kill it?"