Plot
Successful stage actor Lawrence Talbot receives a letter from
his brother Ben's fiancé telling him that he has gone missing and asking for his
help. He returns home to Talbot Hall where he has not set foot since a young boy
and meets up with his estranged father, Sir John Talbot, to learn that Ben's
body has been found. It was in a horrific state as if he has been attacked by a
savage wild beast. Lawrence investigates further and ends up at a gypsy camp
where he has an encounter with a werewolf that bites him. After seemingly
recovering from his injuries after a few days, Lawrence begins to transform into
a werewolf when the moon is full.
Review
The original is a classic - one of the landmarks films in the
horror genre. Unfortunately because it's so old, the wolfman story has been
portrayed on film so many times in so many guises, with various sequels,
spin-offs, spoofs, etc. I dare anyone with even a vague interest in film in
general not to be able to explain the story or at least cover most of the basics
of the wolfman mythology. It's this familiarity with the story
and character that is easily The Wolfman's biggest obstacle. We know the story. We've seen it
countless times in countless forms. So is there really anything new to add to it?
With such a chaotic production history, it's amazing that The Wolfman has
even made it to release. Directorial replacements at the last minute, re-shoots
and script re-writes amongst other things, the problems are evident in the final
version which is a mess that somehow manages to limp for 103 minutes before
dropping dead at the end credits. It's not that The Wolfman is a terrible
film, far from it. It's just that it's one of the most unemotionally-investing
films that I can recall watching. It's a film that is hollow and shallow and
seems to go through the motions. There's little energy in it. There's little
sense of urgency. You get the sense that everyone here is just glad to be paid
and that's about it. It drifts from one sub-plot to the next, not sure of which
direction it's going in. Threads are picked up and dropped later in the film.
It's blatantly clear where the re-writes came and the film was chopped and
changed around.
Pacing is also a major problem as the film is dull as dishwater
at times. The wolfman will then strike and suddenly the film becomes exciting.
But then it fails to capitalise on this momentum and drifts back into it's
slumber, ready for the next transformation.
Let's go with some good news though. It isn't all bad.
The wolfman himself is a mixture of CGI and traditional
make-up and as poor as the CGI scenes are with the wolfman running across
rooftops and the like, the practical make-up by Rick Baker
is awesome and proves that computers can replace many things but not make them
convincing. The make-up is terrifying at times and gives Benicio Del Toro the
real chance to roar and howl like he's never done before. The wolfman has never been more brutal than
he is here.
He's a snarling, rabid animal who rips apart his victims in a shower of blood,
limbs and entrails. I was pleasantly surprised and pleased by the amount of gore
on display here. The film itself looks visually stunning and it has
the Gothic atmosphere nailed down to a tee. Some of the moonlight shots of the
village or the fog-drenched forest are beautiful - almost Tim Burton-like at times. There's
so much eye candy on display as the sets are lavishly furnished, faithfully
recreated from days gone by and brought to life with superb cinematography. The
sweeping Victorian settings are faithfully recreated and it's good to be able to
see where money was well spent - take for instance the bustling streets of
London during the asylum escape sequence. The nearest film I can recall to
conjuring up such a world was Sleepy Hollow and I was getting the same
moody vibe here.
It's the acting and casting that is one of the
film's biggest weaknesses. Benicio Del Toro is dreadful as Lawrence Talbot.
He's bland and unemotional in his human state and has about as much go about him
as a dead parrot. As attractive as she is, Emily Blunt is wasted in a
throwaway role as the love interest. She's there to pout, cry, look good and
then provide some sort of moment towards the end of the film where she confronts
the wolfman and he shows a brief moment of humanity. But was the romantic plot
necessary? After all, she was her brother's
fiancé and he hasn't been dead two minutes before she's
already moved onto his sibling.
Anthony Hopkins is equally as dismal as Sir John Talbot. He chews
up the scenery with little conviction and slums through his dialogue as if he's
been woken up after a night out.Hugo Weaving is decent as Inspector Abberline
but arrives too late in the film to save it.
Verdict
The Wolfman is decent at times, dreadful at others.
Maybe that this is the best we could have expected given the much-publicised
problems it had during production but with the talent in front of and behind the
camera, it should have been way better. Let's hope that lessons will be learned
from this episode and the wolfman story is given the proverbial silver bullet
for the foreseeable future.
