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Joe Johnston’s (The Rocketeer, Jumanji) The Wolfman is a remake of 1941’s movie of the same name. While the original was somewhat of a B-movie, it still had some decent character development to back up the action. The remake however, is all bark and no bite.
The movie begins with Lawrence Talbot (Benicio del Toro, 21 Grams) returning to the family estate years after he has had any contact with his family. His return is prompted by a letter sent by his brother’s fiancée, Gwen, (Emily Blunt, The Devil Wears Prada) about the brother’s mysterious disappearance. When Lawrence arrives, his father (Anthony Hopkins, The Silence of the Lambs) informs him that his brother has been found dead, seemingly killed by a wild beast. While trying to learn the true nature os his death, Lawrence travels to a gypsy camp at the edge of town. Shortly after he arrives, a werewolf appears and begins a bloody rampage through the camp. After killing several townspeople, the lycanthrope bites Lawrence before being chased away. This leads to Lawrence becoming a werewolf himself, and the rest of the film follows his attempts to track down the werewolf who turned him while eluding the authorities, led by Inspector Aberline (Hugo Weaving, The Matrix).
While del Toro, Hopkins, and most of the other actors were competent, none of them really stood out except for Hugo Weaving, in a role too small for his talent. In addition to poor casting and unremarkable performances, the screenplay by Andrew Kevin Walker (Se7en) and David Self (Road to Perdition) was clearly lacking in character development. They choose to focus more on driving the story forward quickly than establishing personalities and motives. It almost seems as though entire scenes were missing from the film.
Joe Johnston’s direction was uneven throughout the movie. While some scenes are done well, particularly the fight scenes, his unusual take on flashback sequences was awkward and overly stylized. Overall, the whole movie felt disjointed, with a glaring lack of cohesion.
Nevertheless, The Wolfman did have a few redeeming qualities. In addition to Weaving’s performance, the art direction was excellent. All the sets had a distinct feel, with each being dark and foreboding in a unique way. I also appreciated the decision to use make-up for the wolfman himself instead of CGI. It helped give the creature a more realistic and threatening look that could not have been achieved through the use of computers.
With far more flaws than strengths, The Wolfman fails to deliver as either a successful homage or a satisfying horror experience. While the original certainly was not perfect, I would definitely recommend it over the remake. All in all, unless you are a die-hard monster movie fan, there is not much to enjoy in The Wolfman.
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