I swear I heard that this movie was coming out over a year ago, forgot about it, and then started having it advertised to me again. A little bit of research tells me that my instincts are probably true as Universal’s re-imagining of their 1941 classic The Wolf Man has been a troubled production for quite a while, juggling directors and suffering through several script rewrites. Eventually things settled on a script by Andrew Kevin Walker (of Se7en fame) and direction by Joe Johnston; whose films Jumanji and Jurassic Park 3 make him no stranger to helming blockbusters and franchises. The biggest compliment that I can give Johnston is that The Wolfman feels like a coherent effort. Without the Googling I wouldn’t have been able to sense multiple fingerprints manipulating the DNA of this moody, stylish update. However, whether or not that coherent vision was one that was able to titillate or not is another story altogether.
Screen oddity Benicio Del Toro takes over the iconic role of Larry Talbot, originally made famous by Lon Chaney Jr. in many of Universal’s classic monster movie crossovers of the 40’s. Larry is the man who, once bitten, becomes afflicted by a classic case of lycanthropy and subsequently morphs into the titular character with the regularity of a moon and tide synced menstrual cycle. Here the title is slightly changed from the original, Talbot turns into a Wolfman rather than a Wolf Man. Try as I might I wasn’t able to discern any thematic reason for the change in spelling as the characters are portrayed rather similarly. Most likely, the difference is merely a business decision, separating the two films in name for easier cataloguing while retaining the familiar copy write and notability that comes along with Universal’s property. So immediately, my hopes of seeing an indy film centered around Larry Wolfman, a hairy, octogenarian grump who is mostly preoccupied with watching golf on television and sending back meals in diners were dashed. Oh well, if reviewing another man becomes wolf horror flick is my cross to bear, then I intend to do so with stony resolve.
Early on in the film I worried about Del Toro’s performance. He plays the role very straight and intense. His screen presence and serious demeanor can add a lot of weight to the material he’s presenting, and here we are dealing with dialogue that is already pretty heavy. Heavy in the sense that it is a bit dense, ham fisted, and boring. Supporting cast members Anthony Hopkins and Huge Weaving got things a bit more right. The dialogue and interactions in the script were a bit too serious, too dry for a werewolf movie, so Hopkins and Weaving go over the top and hammy with their performances. Hopkins is a joy to watch as Talbot’s unhinged, isolated father. He plays the character with enough random quirks and neurosis that he takes a role that could have been dark and heavy handed and instead makes it cheesy, ridiculous fun. Similarly, Weaving takes a fairly underwritten and thankless role as a police inspector and injects it with so much random, hard assed bravado for seemingly no reason that you can’t help but love to hate him. Thankfully, Del Toro loosens up his performance late in the second act and starts to swing for the fences. His character, outed as a werewolf by the townsfolk, is committed to an insane asylum where he is subjected to horrible, torturous “treatments” to cure him of his affliction. From this point forward Del Toro owns the screen with twitches, shrieks, and madman expressions. The turn comes just in time for the action packed confrontations of the third act. The film is at it’s best when it drops all aspirations of being a dramatic period piece and devolves into gory, stupid action. It should be noted that Emily Blunt does a fine job at playing the love interest in the movie. Her role consists of being pretty and looking concerned. She does fine. Good job. It must get pretty boring being an actress in Hollywood sometimes.
The aforementioned action is quick, bloody, and fun to watch. Early on in the film the werewolf is so fast that it shows up on screen only as a blur accompanied by showers of blood, flying limbs, and sagging entrails. Later, when the werewolf gets more screen time things are taken down a notch by some questionable CGI movement; but it’s never so bad that you’re taken out of the moment. The fights and killings generally remain over the top and brutal enough that you’re enjoying the carnage rather than getting hung up over concerns about visual effects. Jump scares are in full effect here, the soundtrack being turned up several decibels any time a dog growls or a dish breaks out of nowhere. Modern horror fans should feel right at home with the blood and noise. There are some things here for the fans of old timey horror as well, though. The look of the film is perpetually shadowy, foggy, and moonlit. The period sets are grand, but dingy and creepy. The moon plays the role of being the central image of the film. Not only are most of the scenes lit by only the light of the moon and the flicker of candle light, but time lapse shots of the moon rising and setting in it’s various phases are the way in which we are able to mark the passage of time as the plot roles along. An appropriately gothic and vintage sounding score by the very prolific Danny Elfman helps bring all of these elements together to create a consistent, classic horror tone.
The pacing of the film is helped along by the camera work and editing. The camera constantly moves, getting itself into the middle of the fight or exploring the nooks and crannies of the production design. Not in a herky jerky way that might distract us, but with confident swoops that give the feel of being on a theme park ride. The cuts are quick, moving from scene to scene without lingering too long and boring us. It’s only during the lengthy dialogue scenes where the film grinds to a halt. While there were many elements of the film I enjoyed, it’s flaws were fatal and all too clear. The script just isn’t very good, and all of the attempts to add depth to the characters or make you care about their plights and romances fall flat. Too often the action bits are broken up by melodramatic attempts at emulating Jane Austen stories, and I found myself looking at my watch or wondering when someone would get eviscerated during moments where I was supposed to be empathizing with the characters or investing in their fates.
The Wolfman also suffers from being a case of the same old, same old. Nothing is added or subtracted from the werewolf myth. The film doesn’t add any unexpected wrinkles into the narrative or introduce any new perspectives from which to view the classic werewolf story. You can imagine what you’re going to be getting going in and rest assured that you’ll be getting nothing more. I guess this is a bit of a double edged sword as the production feels at times to be redundant and unnecessary; but at least we’re not dealing with some sort of faux edgy revamp ala the Underworld movies, or a too hip, tween romance angle trying to ride the coat tails of the poisonous Twilight series. Nothing is terribly botched here, and I enjoyed the action and the mood of the film, but I can’t go as far as giving it a recommendation. The story is too paint by numbers, stretches of the film are too boring to forgive, and the characters fail to create true connections with the audience. In the end The Wolfman is a middle of the road effort that could have perhaps been a lot better if it would have allowed itself to just be a lot stupider and nihilistic.
