ActuallyGlimmer
The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.
Ava-Grace Willis
Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.
Rexanne
It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny
Shuvongkor Barman
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.
Horst in Translation ([email protected])
"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.
Victor Field
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"...
DrakenaTheDestroyer
Caution, this comment may have spoilers to the film and referenced films. I've seen the two films based on Alan Moore's works, "From Hell" and "LXG", "Van Helsing: The London Assignment" is somewhat a combination of both. In the dark streets of London, someone murders these women by cutting their throats with a surgeon knife. Van Helsing is sent to catch the killer, a monster and someone skilled in medicine. Turns out the killer is the royal family's physician. The plot runs too close to the Jack the Ripper mystery in "From Hell" mixed with a hulk-like Mr. Hyde causing mayhem like in "LXG".Another reference to Alan Moore's "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" is that Carl disguises as a woman to draw out Hyde, which is similar to Mina Murray passing herself off as a prostitute in the comic books. The plot just seems like a spoof of Moore's work.With the characters, I love the relationship between Van Helsing and Carl. I thought Carl was quite funny, although I much prefer David Wenham as Faramir. I'm not pleased about Jekyll and Hyde, the screenwriters had made these classic literary figures much more demented than the "LXG" version of the characters. It's also quite odd that "From Hell" star Robbie Coltrane voices Hyde, at least he did not imitate Jason Flemyng's Hyde voice. Dr. Jekyll was along the lines of mad scientist, in the original novel, he was haunted by guilt from Hyde's horrible deeds which led to suicide.The animation was well done I admit. Lots of action and such, but parts such as zombies coming from the lava was kinda weird. 3/5 stars.
