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How does one celebrate Valentine's Day in America, they do dinner and a movie of course. What movie does one see on Valentine's Day in America...."The Wolfman of course!
Based on the classic 1941 horror film "The Wolf Man".
AwROOO!
The movie is by no means good but it does have some bite at times .
Pity the poor Wolf Man; in it's defense the Wolfman was always the forgotten cousin of the Hollywood horror crew.
Let's face it Frankenstein and Dracula got all the attention. Not many people know this (I didn't) but Universal Studios has been trying to remake it's 1941 monster movie The Wolf Man (two words) for over 20 years. The Wolfman (one word) is the 21st century monster reboot.
Benicio Del Toro plays Lawrence Talbot a successful American actor who gets news of his brother's violent death the latest victim, it seems, of some sort of howling monster. He returns home to his estranged father played by Anthony Hopkins who doesn't seem to care much about either his dead son or his living one to be quite honest with you.
Anyway, while in the woods investigating the matter, Lawrence is bitten by some sort of werewolf (or "verevolf" in gypsy) and begins to exhibit some strange behavior. Dum-dum-dum!
Besides the fact, that his hairline is lower than little Eddie from the "The Munsters", Benicio Del Toro is so wrong for part. He doesn't seem to know how to play Lawrence, so for the most part he doesn't, really.
He just mopes around from one scene to the next.
The connection wasn't there for me. His character didn't generate any emotion from me, no caring nor any sympathy. The same is true of Hopkins, he simply looks bored throughout most of the film, except for the last 20 minutes or so (no spoilers) but by then it's a little too late.
There's no suspense here, there's no question about the curse that has now fallen Lawrence. When the full moon rises, he'll turn into a wolflike creature that can only be killed by silver bullets. Even Del Toro's howl a "Wolfman" trademark feels out of place, sounding like something out of Scooby Doo!
SideNote: As a matter of fact, the Wolfman's howl doesn't come from a wolf or animal at all. The filmmakers got the sound they were looking for from an opera singer they discovered at a Los Angeles audition.
If anyone seems to be having a good time in this it's Hugo Weaving, in the role of a Scotland Yard inspector hell bent on capturing the werewolf no matter what. And how will he do that? By enjoying a pint of bitter and a newspaper at the local pub, thank you very much!
Say what you will about the phoned in acting on everyone's part, the reason you go to see a movie called "The Wolfman" is to see some scary wolf action right. Well this 2010 version doesn't disappoint!
Special-effects genius Rick Baker-the go-to man for this sort of stuff- whose werewolf experience stretches back to "The Howling" and "An American Werewolf In London" designed a beast transformation that is awesome,bloody, gory, horrifying, and an amazing thing to watch! We get our fair share of dismemberments, impalements, disembowelments and decapitations. Definitely R-Rated stuff here folks! And that's really all it's about, right?
"The Wolfman" probably seemed like a good idea somewhere along the line. Remake the 1941 classic, sign up Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins and toss in some Hugo Weaving for good measure - what could go wrong? Maybe all press about the movie's troubles like the many delays in the actual release date or the drastic trimming of running time from more than 2 hours to a mere 1 1/2 hours have left their teeth marks. You know, I was wondering why many scenes felt choppy and out of place; rushed in some places, slow in others.
Still, I wouldn't go as far as saying the director Joe Johnston (Jurassic Park III) is guilty of ruining a classic, but he did nothing to enhance the great work of art he'd been given either.
He just seems to have been barking up the wrong tree here.
Rated R |
Posted by oxyjen on Feb 16, 2010
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