Well, better than TeenWolf....

‘The Wolfman’ 2010

by Tyler Kempf

There’s a fine line between man and beast. Universal Pictures’ reimagining of their classic, ‘The Wolfman’ starring Benicio Del Toro and Anthony Hopkins, often seems like two different films, one as exciting as a big, snarling beast, but the other as boring as an old, slow talking man.

The film takes place in England during the late 1800’s. Lawrence Talbot (Del Toro) is an American actor travelling through his native England in a production of Hamlet when he receives a letter from his soon to be sister-in-law, Gwen (Emily Blunt). The letter states that his brother has gone missing and she wishes he would come home to help with the search. Upon arrival, he learns from his estranged father (Hopkins) that his brother is indeed dead. Talbot takes it upon himself to find out the identity of the murderer. The locals all have ideas that it was a beast that has been haunting the land brought on by the gypsies that live outside of town. While visiting the gypsy camp, Talbot is bitten by the beast, and subsequently spends the rest of the movie dealing with the fact that he is now a werewolf.

The move is visually stunning. Director Joe Johnston obviously had a vision on how to incorporate modern CGI with old school prosthetics, courtesy of the amazing Rick Baker, who also did the groundbreaking effects for ‘An American Werewolf in London’, a far superior werewolf film. I only wish Johnson had a stronger script to work with. The pacing of the film is off. The mix of period film and horror don’t blend incredibly well. When there isn’t a werewolf on the screen, the movie seems to really lose steam.

Del Toro has never been so boring in a film. His character has very few levels. We feel sorry for the crap that he’s gone through in his life, but we don’t really care what happens to him. We just want to see him rip some more people to shreds. Blunt is equally as bland. Her character enters the film while mourning the loss of her future husband and she never really seems to get out of that funky mood, save for one scene in which she learns to skip rocks. SO EXCITING!!! There’s also very little chemistry between the two of them on screen. This film is a prime example of two amazing, very appealing actors who just can’t seem to do much with the poor script that they’re given.

Hopkins is the godsend in this film. His charisma, charm and humor really bring the material up to his level when he’s on screen.

There’s a line at the end of the film about how it’s not a sin to kill a beast, but it is to kill a man. In regards to ‘The Wolfman’, when the humans are being humans, the movie is bland, but when there’s a werewolf on the screen, watch out. The action (and that’s what it is, action, not horror) of this film is so much fun. When the werewolf goes on a rampage, the film becomes sinfully exciting.