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[The Wolfman]
Plot:Inspired by the classic Universal film that launched a legacy of horror, The Wolfman brings the myth of a cursed man back to its iconic origins. Oscar winner Benicio Del Toro stars as Lawrence Talbot, a haunted nobleman lured back to his family estate after his brother vanishes. Reunited with his estranged father (Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins), Talbot sets out to find his brother...and discovers a horrifying destiny for himself.
Lawrence Talbot's childhood ended the night his mother died. After he left the sleepy Victorian hamlet of Blackmoor, he spent decades recovering and trying to forget. But when his brother's fiancee, Gwen Conliffe (Emily Blunt), tracks him down to help find her missing love, Talbot returns home to join the search. He learns that something with brute strength and insatiable bloodlust has been killing the villagers, and that a suspicious Scotland Yard inspector named Aberline (Hugo Weaving) has come to investigate.
As he pieces together the gory puzzle, he hears of an ancient curse that turns the afflicted into werewolves when the moon is full. Now, if he has any chance at ending the slaughter and protecting the woman he has grown to love, Talbot must destroy the vicious creature in the woods surrounding Blackmoor. But as he hunts for the nightmarish beast, a simple man with a tortured past will uncover a primal side to himself...one he never imagined existed.
Cast:Benicio Del Toro,
Anthony Hopkins,
Emily Blunt,
Hugo Weaving,
Art Malik,
Rob Dixon,
Nicholas Day,
Michael Cronin,
David Schofield,
David Sterne,
Roger Frost,
Clive Russell,
Geraldine Chaplin.
My Thoughts:Classical boredom.
Review:I was honestly expecting something powerful, creative, and imaginative from Joe Johnston's "The Wolfman". Instead...what I got was a film that was high on classical imagery, but short on anything relevant. The film follows Lawrence Talbot (Del Toro), who returns home after his brother vanishes, taken by a savage beast which prowls the Blackmoor countryside. Upon arriving back home, where he left upon his mothers death, he reconciles with his father (Hopkins), and soon meets his brothers fiancee Gwen (Blunt).
Upon running into the beast responsible for taking his brother, Lawrence becomes injured during the encounter. Now...he is destined to become the very same thing that he just encountered. A savage, vicious animal, that kills without conscience. The question is, can his heart and true nature overcome his new beastly bloodlust? This film delivers in the opening five minutes, but then it quickly descends downhill.
Mostly because of the performances, but also the time period it's set in. 1891, was not exactly the most exciting time period of world history. Especially in England. England itself is never really super exciting, but 1891 England? Total bore. So this flick has no shortage of bad accents, 1891 costuming, pale old guys, and related stuff. I was hoping Del Toro would be able to carry the movie on his own, past these issues. But the script for the most part, fails him.
Del Toro doesn't exactly give a super-inspired performance, but that's mostly because the script is not very inspiring itself. And doesn't give Benicio much to do beyond pine after Gwen, his missing brothers fiancee. You can see from the moment they meet, how things between them will turn out. And they spend most of the movie making googley eyes at one another. Certainly not what I paid my 10 bucks for. Granted, yes...I know this is supposed to be a story about the MAN who became a BEAST.
But...atleast give us something intriguing and fun to chew on while you do the lovey-dovey stuff. Instead, this movie gives us too much lovey-dovey junk, and not enough Wolfman. The transformation scenes are really well done, speaking of The Wolfman. And there's one scene in particular where Talbot is put on trial, and morphs into the famous beast right before the gaggle of on-lookers. One of the films most prized and powerful scenes. The problem is, there aren't enough of these scenes to go around, and for a 90-minute movie, everything good in it is spread very, very thin.
Emily Blunt as Gwen is also a drag. Her monotone, uninspired boredom is enough to drive any viewer into a cinematic coma. I think she was chosen simply because she's British, already has the accent, and is modestly good-looking. So, dropping her alongside Benicio in a film like this would bump up her status, and also give her a break-out role. Little did the producers know that this is a girl who's last horror film was "Wind Chill", a movie Sony released back in 2008 in like 100 or so cinemas, and by a few months later, wound up on cable.
So I think perhaps she needed to cut her teeth a bit more on a few more movies, before being thrust into a picture as big as this one. Alongside veterans like Del Toro and Sir Anthony Hopkins. Hopkins by the way, as Lawrences father, as usual, squeezes the most out of his scenes, and makes his presence felt in some very short on-screen moments. Hopkins should've gotten more screentime in this movie, but never fear because he plays a major role in the finale, which I won't spoil here.
As far as blood and gore are concerned, this movie has one or two bloody scenes that aren't really worth writing home about, but work within the context of a movie such as "The Wolfman", which attempts to be more substance over style and graphic violence. The problem is, the film lacks a lot of the substance it shoots for, hence why it fails often. The finale is good though, and atleast the movie finishes up on a strong note. But overall, "The Wolfman" is closer to being howlingly bad, something I really didn't expect going into seeing the film.
Positives:Well shot and directed, Benicio tries his best despite a flawed script, Hopkins owns all of his scenes as usual, and the scene where Talbot attacks the crowd during his trial as great. As was the finale.
Negatives:A very boring script, too much romance, Emily Blunt is a drag to watch act, and a few more gory kills would've been nice.
Overall:Two out of four stars.
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