Review #1,154: 'The Wolfman' (2010)

To say that The Wolfman had a troublesome journey from page to screen would be an understatement, with director-swaps, re-shoots and a release date that kept getting pushed back plaguing the production of Universal's attempt to reboot one of the horror franchises they laid their foundations with back in the 1930s and 40s. The cracks and desperate stitching together are plain to see in the resulting movie, which limped into cinemas only to quickly disappear from memory. One part an earnest attempt to bring an age-old tale to modern audiences with a heavy tip-of-the-hat to the Lon Chaney original, and one part a bungled and rushed attempt to blend a serious psychological study with gruesome mainstream thrills, screenwriters Andrew Kevin Walker (Se7en) and David Self (Road to Perdition) must have been wondering where their hard work went.

Shakespearean actor Lawrence Talbot (Benicio Del Toro) leaves the comforts of London life for his childhood home of Blackmoor after he learns of the disappearance of his brother Ben (Simon Merrells). There waiting for him is his father Sir John (Anthony Hopkins), who greets his wayward son in typical horror fashion, from the top of the dark staircase of his once-spectacular mansion. When Ben shows up dead and apparently mangled by some vicious beast, Lawrence consoles his brother's beautiful fiancee Gwen (Emily Blunt). During an attack on the village by a bloodthirsty werewolf, Lawrence is bitten and is cursed to transform into a murderous monster every full moon. Faced with his developing fondness for Gwen and his uncontrollable, animalistic urges, Lawrence is forced to confront the beast within, as Scotland Yard Inspector Aberline (Hugo Weaving) is called in as the body count rises.

Given my love for the old Universal horror movies, I appreciated The Wolfman's respect for the original and the occasional success in bringing those foggy English moors to life again. The film also thrives during the few brutal attacks, with no punches being pulled in the gore stakes as spines are raked and limbs go flying. Sadly, this is just about all Joe Johnston's movie has going for it, and the director shapes the film with the same lack of singular vision that plagued Jurassic Park III (2001) and Captain America: The First Avenger (2011). One moment it is rushing to deliver the CGI-fuelled thrills to the undemanding audience, and the next it is brooding and deep, or delivering a confusing moment of exposition in what becomes an unnecessarily complicated plot. I don't recall the likes of Lon Chaney and Bela Lugosi stumbling their way through a convoluted story for 2 long hours, so why would it be needed here?


Directed by: Joe Johnston
Starring: Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt, Hugo Weaving
Country: USA

Rating: **

Tom Gillespie