I'm sure we have all caught a monster movie at some point in our
lives. I seen quite a few, from the early days like The Wolfman(1941)
and Frankenstein meets the wolf man(1943) to the later ones like
the Ginger Snap series(2000-04), American Were wolf in Paris(1997)/London(1981),
and the Howling series(1981-95). The wolfman and lycanthropy has
been re-invented many times. We have been fascinated by Lykens
since the beginning on the world and the lore keeps getting bigger
as time goes on. This latest version of "The Wolfman", directed
by Joe Johnston, brings the rage and the horror of the beast upfront
and personal with the help of CGI, making his transformations
vivid and painful. I think they did a good job paying homage to
the Original Wolf man.
Lawrence Talbot (Benicio Del Toro) receives a letter from her brother's fiancée Gwen Conliffe (Emily Blunt), requesting him to come back to his family estate in Black moor, his brother has gone missing for several weeks. He leaves his tour in London and returns to his old home and estranged father John Talbot (Anthony Hopkins). He arrives in time to bury his brother's body which has been maliciously disfigured. Since his return, he has been haunted by memories of his mother death, which he witnessed as a young boy. The town's people believe the Talbots are cursed. A Scotland Yard inspector Aberline (Hugo Weaving) comes to investigate the murder, as well, pointing a finger at Lawrence. Gwen asks Lawrence to look into his brother's murder and while searching, he finds a trinket that has gypsy symbols on it. The gypsies have just arrived a few weeks prior just out side of town. He goes to speak with them and is followed by the towns' people who want to drive the gypsies out. Once the commotion starts, the creature starts attacking horrifically dismembering everyone one in sight. Lawrence is separated from the group and is bitten by the beast. Luckily the towns' men got there before the beast finished Lawrence off and so the Wolfman is born.
The Bang:
The makeup and the CGI were just amazing; The transformation was graphic, painful, and very detailed, plus the amount of detail that went into the Wolfman make-up took approximately 3 hours to apply and 1 hour to remove. The depiction of the werewolf and his attributes were accurate to the lore and the story line is simple and classic. I can't ask more from the story and the werewolf himself. Acting wise, Benicio likes the wolf, I know I'm pulling this out of the coffin but he played Dog-boy in Big top Pee-wee (1988). I also found it very odd that they would bring out an actual historical figure; Aberline was the actual inspector who was in charge of the jack the ripper case around the 1880's. Finally, this is Joe Johnston first R rated film and it was done very well.
The Slack:
Benico Del Toro, great actor, but has a heavy Spanish accent. He had very limited dialogue and it was very noticeable in his acting. Also I hate when they stick love stories where it just doesn't belong, its just ruins the purpose of the movie.
The Ugly:
N/A
The Wolfman is a very detailed and graphic film, so if you have a weak stomach or prone to nightmares, I would let this one pass by. On the other hand, I didn't find this movie to be scary... maybe I'm desensitized. Overall I was very happy with the relived classic and that's why The Wolfman is getting a TOV 4 out of 5.
