The Wolfman (2010)

Directed by: Joe Johnston
Written by: Andrew Kevin Walker/David Self
Based on 1941 screenply by: Curt Siodmak

The Wolfman cometh. And you can’t stop him.

Unless, of course, you have a silver bullet. Then you can stop him post haste.

But first, some previews.

COP OUT–Um, what’s wrong with Kevin Smith? I think I’ve reviewed this preview before, but I think it bears repeating: this looks like the worst movie ever. Kevin was on his way back and now he’s working with fucking Tracy Morgan? Fuck off. Not seeing this one.

GREEN ZONE–This really may as well be The Bourne Mission or something. It looks pretty awesome. Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass, together again. This time, they’re bringing Brendan Gleeson, Jason Isaacs and Greg Kinnear along for the ride. I’m there.

THE BOUNTY HUNTER–Would someone tell Hollywood to stop putting Gerard Butler in romantic comedies? And I like Jennifer Aniston, but she needs to be stopped, too. This is Midnight Run with a less appealing cast…and less laughs. God, that movie was great.

KICK-ASS–Yeah, I’ve seen this one, but I don’t care. I can’t say enough good stuff about it. GO SEE IT!!!

IRON MAN 2–Yep. I’m there.

Ok, back to the lupus movie.

I think we all know the basic story here. Lawrence Talbot (Benicio Del Toro) comes back to town to help find his missing brother, only to find that he has been killed under mysterious circumstances. His father, Sir John Talbot (Anthony Hopkins), is just as mysterious, but seems to be loving enough…in his way. The brother’s fiancee, Gwen (Emily Blunt), easily begins to fall for Lawrence, but not before his is bitten by the mysterious circumstance.

You see, there is a werewolf afoot. Sure, no one truly believes it except the gypsies. But Detective Abberline (Hugo Weaving) has his suspicions, and they all center on the Talbots.

This could very well be my favorite old-school horror remake in a long, long time. They have basically taken the character back to his roots. He is a man who is turned into a wolfman, not a full-on wolf. His clothes stay on. He walks on two legs a lot of the time. This is the gothic horror film that The Wolfman was always meant to be. In fact, I would say that, if this movie does well, Hammer has a very good chance of making the comeback that we all know that it should have.

That being said, there are a few things that keep it from being a perfect film. There are a LOT of “cat in the closet” scares. They, for the most part, work, but a few less would have been much better. Just let the mood (which director Joe Johnston does a surprisingly good job of creating) carry the film more than jolt scares.

Second, I love Benicio. He’s an amazing actor. But, for some reason, he’s kind of awful in this movie. I don’t know what the problem was, but he really phoned it in this time. It’s as if he really didn’t care about what was going on around him, and that’s unfortunate. With a better performance, maybe some of those jolt scares would have come off better.

But the movie is carried off very well other than that. Hopkins, Blunt and Weaving put in some great performances and Rick Baker’s makeup effects were amazing, of course…when they were allowed to shine. At times the CGI took over and it wasn’t as fluid or believable as I would have hoped. (CGI bear? Hmmm.) But the first big melee scene at the gypsy camp was pretty much perfect.

Speaking of Baker, the transformation scenes were amazing. Baker kept with his work with American Werewolf In London and made it look as fucking PAINFUL as possible to turn into a werewolf. That’s what made him so revolutionary to being with and it’s what makes him amazing still.

If you’re a fan of the old gothic horror films, Hammer or Universal, go see this movie. Don’t think it’s going to be an Oscar winner. But do go thinking that you’ll see some amazing creature effects and a decent story. And Anthony Hopkins being super-creepy and awesome.