I don't get all the bad reviews and the hate for this movie. I found it quite enjoyable and the modern twists to the classic characters are absolutely genius.
I also love the actors in this movie. C'mon, how can you not love Sean Connery, Peta Wilson, Tony Curran, Stuart Townsend, and Shane West all together in one movie...
I certainly didn't think it was as awful as people had claimed and found it quite delightful!
sharePart of the problem it had was in its time it was pushed as THE NEXT BIG THING and it just didn't work on that level. They pumped a huge amount of money into publicizing it and it didn't pay off.
The movie was a miserable experience for the actors, and Connery quit acting because of it.
At the time, there were also many complaints that it had nothing to do with the comic books it claimed to be based on. It's true....they only have the basic concept in common, but otherwise had radically different plots, and even treated the characters differently. (Mina Harker, for instance, has no powers in the comics, and is the group leader because of her fearlessness and tactical mind. The movie basically made her a background character.) The movie added Dorian Gray and Tom Sawyer, who were not part of the original comics.
There were things in the movie that many felt didn't make sense, like the submarine cruising through Venice (water isn't deep enough) or the arms factory in the middle of nowhere, let alone characters who are perfect stunt drivers of an automobile without ever having seen one or driven one before.
I disliked the movie myself, but if you like it, cool. I do feel the concept has a ton of potential and there's talk of a remake or reboot at some point. They're not likely to do a sequel to this movie; it performed so poorly at the box office that now they're largely pretending this movie never happened.
"Value your education. It's something nobody can ever take away from you." My mom.