The Wolfman (Joe Johnston, 2010)

[HammerDave]

The first time I saw the trailer for Universal's remake of The Wolfman, I thought it looked pretty cool. Of course, the first time I saw the trailer was at Movie-Con in the summer of 2008, and at that point it had already missed at least one release date. Then ugly reports began to filter through, of CG replacing Rick Baker's makeup FX because test audiences thought they looked stupid. In spring 2009, Vic Armstrong mentioned at the BFI's Bond weekender that he was currently working on a big wire-fu werewolf fight for the film's climax. And as yet more release dates came and went, rumours were circulating just a few weeks ago that director Joe Johnston and the studio were each working on their own competing edits of the movie. Well finally, The Wolfman has escaped and having just returned from a screening, I can tell you... it's not terrible. It's not great either, but it's certainly better than it might have been.

In this version of the story by Andrew Kevin Walker and David Self (and let's face it, who knows how many uncredited polishers), Lawrence Talbot (Benicio Del Toro) is a famous stage actor, estranged from his doolally father Sir John (Sir Anthony Hopkins). When his brother Ben is killed by some kind of wild beastie, Lawrence returns home to find out what happened, having been summoned by a letter from Ben's fiancee Gwen Conliffe (Emily Blunt). Lawrence, having a history of mental illness, is one of the suspects singled out by Inspector Abberline (Hugo Weaving), latterly of the Jack the Ripper case. And then there are gypsies, and biting, and full moons, and quite a lot of entrails...

So; first the good. Well, the flick looks sensational, like the most expensive movie Hammer couldn't afford. In fact some of the outdoor scenes were even shot in Hammer's old stomping ground of Black Park. Thankfully though the production designers didn't go too overboard piling on the gothic, like in Branagh's deeply flawed Mary Shelley's Frankenstein or Coppola's sheer bloody awful Bram Stoker's Dracula. Also the makeup FX, while not as iconic as the original design, are certainly good. They reminded me quite a bit of Roy Ashton's work from Hammer's Curse of the Werewolf, in fact. The CG enhancements aren't great, but they are used sparingly - only one shot of an incredibly fake-looking CG bear looked completely ridiculous. There's fun to be had from the cast too; Hopkins lets the fact that he's Anthony Hopkins do most of the work, while Hugo Weaving steals every scene he's in. The score, by Danny Elfman channelling Wojciech Kilar, is good too. And the big set pieces, including one that is a nice homage to An American Werewolf in London, are effective. I also rather liked how with a couple of exceptions, everyone in the movie seemed to accept quite readily that werewolves existed.

Then there's the bad, which mainly involves the large chunks of the script that are clearly missing. Del Toro, looking uncannily like Lon Chaney Jr. at times, never stops for long enough to develop a character, and his relationship with Blunt's somewhat bland love interest also seems to have ended up mostly on the cutting room floor. Some characters like Sir John's faithful Indian retainer Singh (Art Malik) barely have time to register, while Talbot's brother Ben, despite an IMDB credit, doesn't appear at all. It seems that the rumours about the editing have some truth to them; the IMDB lists the film as over 2 hours, but the finished cut we saw was just about dead on a brisk 1h 45.

On the whole then, this is a fun monster romp, registering somewhere between 'average' and 'solid.' It's not going to be regarded as a classic, but it clips along nicely and my wife jumped in the right places. Was it worth the 3 years it took to slap the thing together? Probably not, but it's worth a look. And hopefully the eventual blu-ray and DVD might fill in some of those missing bits.

[VHS]

Good review! Only time will tell if I agree with what you said. I don't expect much, and it's sad because from the get-go this was a remake I was kinda on board with.

[jacksmith1983]

Well I wasn't really looking forward to this, mainly because the trailer, to me, makes this look like another crappy big-budget effects-fest in the Van Helsing vein.

However, having read that nice little write-up Dave I might see if I can find time to get down to the cinema and see it, and if not I'll most likely catch up with it on DVD a few months down the road.

On a side note I know I am in the minority here, but I never really felt Mary Shelly's Frankenstein was that bad a film. For me Branagh delivered a faithful, well acted and reasonably engaging adaptaion of Shelley's novel, even if his film doesn't really function as a "horror".

[jayzus]

The best bit was the homage to American Werewolf In London, plenty of gore in the all too brief werewolf sequences. It takes almost 30 minutes for Del Toro to get bitten. These werewolves dont get naked they are all togged out in waist coats and britches. Obvious editing to the relationship between De Toro and Blunt, Weaving does steal the movie. Only five people at the screening I saw today, I suspect that doesnt bode well for its opening week. I could be proved wrong. Worth watching just to see the chase through ye Olde London Towne

[VHS]

Might be seeing this with my girlfriend tomorrow. Let's hope I will atleast be entertained!

[paintnothing84]

Originally Posted by HammerDave

On the whole then, this is a fun monster romp, registering somewhere between 'average' and 'solid.' It's not going to be regarded as a classic, but it clips along nicely

Pretty much my opinion in a nutshell. And yes, the in-joke casting of David "You... made me miss" Schofield was good value - his final scene is the best in the film.

[Mark Y]

Although I saw one good review in the papers, the rest seem almost overwhelmingly negative. Not that's necessarily anything to go by...

[Beavis]

I saw this yesterday and it wasn't too bad. I would reccommend it.