Review: The Wolfman (2010)

[Mark R. Leeper]

                            THE WOLFMAN
                (a film review by Mark R. Leeper)

     CAPSULE: Joe Johnston directs an expansion and
     sophistication of the 1941 THE WOLF MAN.  In
     story and in style this is a cold, dark film.
     The script has some very nice touches but goes
     over the top in the final act.  In many ways it
     is much more a work of art than the original film,
     but the original will be remembered when this film
     is forgotten.  Rating: high +1 (-4 to +4) or 6/10

Lawrence Talbot (played by Benicio Del Toro) left palatial Talbot
Manor when his mother died and he was only six.  He went to the
United States and eventually became a famous actor.  Playing in
London in 1891, he gets a letter from his brother's fianc<UTF16-201A> Gwen
(Emily Blunt) that his brother has disappeared.  He returns to the
brooding now-cobweb-laden manor house of his early youth, ruled
over by his father, Sir John (Anthony Hopkins).  It is not clear if
the manor or Sir John is deteriorating faster.  He finds his
brother is dead, apparently by either a very powerful animal
or--don't laugh, the locals certainly don't--a werewolf.  He soon
discovers that there is something very powerful, very fast, and
very mean in the forest; it is indeed a werewolf, and it bites
Lawrence.  Anyone who knows the original film knows somewhat where
this story is going.  The screenplay is by Andrew Kevin Walker and
David Self re-telling a story suggested by the 1941 script by
prolific Curt Siodmak.  [I am not kidding about prolific.  Horror
fans should look at Siodmak's filmography.]

But knowing the original film does not prepare the viewer for the
dark, morbid atmosphere of director Joe Johnston's sumptuous
production.  Nothing in the film is ever in brighter than half-
light.  Where the low B-film budget of the first film did not allow
for very much visual style, Johnston goes overboard on the
production design.  Scenes showing a normal-speed foreground
against a time-lapse sky border on the pretentious.  The same moon
is gibbous and full in the same night.  Gore and organs aplenty
fall from people slashed open by werewolves and only the dark
photography restrains their impact.  Johnson was well aware that
the usual man in hairy makeup would not cut it.  Rick Baker does
the werewolf effects including transformation so it is not
surprising that transformation scenes would stress stretchiness of
limbs, much like Baker's effects in AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON.
This is a werewolf who can run on two legs but for speed drops on
all fours, an interesting concept.  And these werewolves are fast
and powerful, thus providing a credible threat.  Even if they were
not supernatural they would be hard to kill.

The original THE WOLF MAN had a weak third act.  This version of
the story bends over in the other direction having a really
melodramatic ending featuring two super-werewolves fighting in a
burning house.  That is just the sort of film this is.  It is
peculiar coming from Johnston who directed excellent films like THE
ROCKETEER and OCTOBER SKY.  He may be excessive here, but he is a
good enough director to keep his tongue out of his cheek.  This is
material that would be easily destroyed by turning it into a joke.

Speaking of the supernatural and werewolf lore, there runs through
the film a believable confusion as to how to kill a werewolf.  Some
try silver bullets, and they by themselves are not enough.  For one
werewolf the film borrows folklore from HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN.  The
other werewolf in killed in a way not generally endorsed in
werewolf films, and that seems to be cheating just a bit.

Casting for this film sounded odd from the beginning.  Having
Benicio Del Toro as Lawrence Talbot is a little strange for people
used to seeing Lon Chaney, Jr., in the role.  But then to cast
Anthony Hopkins as his father is bizarre.  They neither look nor
sound alike.  Geraldine Chaplin as Maleva the Gypsy woman is a
peculiar choice.  Hugo Weaving as a police inspector is a familiar
face from the "Matrix" movies and the rest of him is familiar from
the title role of V FOR VENDETTA.

Universal Studios never showed the proper respect for their
tradition of monster films.  To give so many tie-in films to
Stephen Sommers demonstrates that.  Sommers has never shown any
real appreciation for the original material.  Joe Johnston was a
better choice for THE WOLFMAN.  He is much closer to the mark.  I
rate THE WOLFMAN a high +1 on the -4 to +4 scale or 6/10.

Film Credits: <http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0780653/>

What others are saying:
<http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1194949-wolfman/>

					Mark R. Leeper
					mleeper at optonline.net
					Copyright 2010 Mark R. Leeper