A violent modern day retelling of the classic Universal Monster's tale of one man's struggle with lycanthropy. The werewolf movie is perhaps the most difficult to perfect as compared to other monster movies. The stories surrounding the lycanthrope present more of a challenge for filmmakers to develop a layered story from. The guidelines for zombies and vampires are pretty basic, but for the werewolf you need all sorts of extra details added to make it or break it. You need a lead character who, for the most part, is having trouble coping with his newly developed 'curse'. Approaching the depth of a man who undergoes painful transformation into a man-eating beast every full moon, and knows it's going to happen and knows what going to happen once transformed, could make for some deep storytelling, on a highly emotional level no less. And of course, a little gore doesn't hurt. It is a horror movie, right?
While this may have been the guidelines for a handful of classic werewolf movies (American Werewolf in London, anyone?), unfortunately director Joe Johnston didn't quite capture the more human level in this film. Of course, Andrew Kevin Walker's script is typical horror fare (he also penned Sleepy Hollow) thats set in a late 1880's countryside. And, hadn't the film been recycled through several director's hands and eventually fall prey to re-shoots, it may have been the werewolf movie fans haves been waiting for. Because it has many things going for it. The acting is top notch. Benicio Del Toro is fantastic as Lawrence Talbot. Everything from his presence to his reaction to the bite is very similar to Lon Chaney Jr.'s in the original. And of course Anthony Hopkins is as great as always. All he has to do now is star in a Frankenstein redux and he'll have hit all the classic monster bases. The rest of the cast, including Emily Blunt and Hugo Weaving, are nothing but forgettable. There presence seems as just filler characters to keep the story flowing.
Danny Elfman's score is brilliant. It's creepy yet epic sound is very reminiscent of the classic Universal films. As is the entire feel of the movie. Much like the mediocre Van Helsing, it's very dark and has a gothic atmosphere to it, which makes it feel like an old school monster movie to say the least. Foggy moors, old cemeteries, dark castles consisting of winding stone staircases leading to hidden candle laden chambers just add to the complete look and feel of the picture, which truly heighten the experience. So, if you don't like the resulting outcome of the film, at least it'll look good.
But, to get down to the meat and bone of it, the biggest drive this movie has - like every other modern horror movie - is the gore. Without spoiling every little detail for you, all I can say is this movie has guts, and lots of them. The Wolfman spills intestines, devours organs, decapitates and dismembers villagers - he just plain out massacres his victims. Although I enjoyed these splatter scenes, it left me a bit disappointed. When I go see a movie like this, I don't come just to see blood hit the floor. This isn't a slasher movie, I'm expecting more than just a gross-out gore film.
Although the story lies stale, the best part of this movie is the appearance of the beast. Taking a nod at the classic look of the 1941 film, make-up fx legend Rick Baker designed his monster to be one of the coolest looking werewolves in cinematic history. I love the original look and I loved how he paid such a great homage to it, with a modern day twist. I don't think I've ever seen a beast look this great. But as much as I liked the overall look of the monster, the first official transformation is less than lackluster as there's a CG overload with feet stretching, nails growing and giant humps appearing in his back. The Wolfman's initial transformation is supposed to be as epic as Freddy getting his glove or Jason getting his mask, and yet, it's like they took Rick Baker's An American Werewolf in London transformation and found a way to speed is up and make it look completely lame.
While The Wolfman has some really proud moments, ultimately it fails at what made the original so memorable. It's fractured mostly at the core with horrid character development and illogical situations. If all your looking for just another creature feature with an out-of-control beast slaughtering townsfolk, this movie will suit you. But for me, as a fan of the classic Universal Monster movies, I expected a bit more than underdeveloped characters a lame story and some cheesy cg rooftop battles.
verdict:
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