The Wolfman: Movie is a Howl of a Ride!

Cast: Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt, Hugo Weaving
Directed by Joe Johnston
Rated: R

Joe Johnston's The Wolfman breaks the remake mold, and has bought back the popcorn thriller in an unexpectedly refreshing way.

The story is based on the 1941 classic. Del Toro (Che) plays Lawrence Talbolt, who in trying to solve the mystery of his brother's murder, is marked by the wretched monster he pursues. He struggles to hold onto his humanity while succumbing to the baser desires of his beastly form. Anthony Hopkins (Beowulf, The Human Stain) plays Lawrence's father, who holds the key to the mysteries behind the deaths of Lawrence's brother and mother. Emily Blunt (Devil Wears Prada, Sunshine Cleaning) is Gwen, the mourning fiancée who tries to soothe the wild Del Toro. Hugo Weaving (Lord of the Rings and The Matrix Trilogies) is Aberline of Scotland Yard, who is both investigator and witness to the unfolding story.

The movie pays excellent homage to the original, adding just enough plot twists to keep the jaded movie fan interested. The acting is formidable, as only true talent can retell this tale without seeming campy or trite. No one does internal angst like Del Toro, or scary, sinister smirks like Hopkins. But with all due respect to the acting, this movie was made not in front of the camera, but behind it. This movie kept me on the edge of my seat with great camera work, amazing use of CGI, and bone chilling sound. The effects and post production work do not overwhelm the story as it does with Avatar, but rather elevates the story and makes this it a modern and thrilling ride. I looked to my neighbor about 3/4th of the movie in and exclaimed: "Wow, this movie is fun!"

I definitely recommend this movie for a date night. Sit back, relax, and hold on to your popcorn.

 

Follow Miguel Guadalupe on Twitter: www.twitter.com/miguad98

Comments

[rzan1]

04:51 PM on 02/14/2010

I'll be seeing it this evening. Forget Julia Roberts and Dear John. Nothing like a good horror film on Valentine's Day.

[Tallulah Morehead]

06:03 PM on 02/14/2010

There are those who regard "Valentine's Day" AS a horror move, including most of the critics who sat through it.

[rzan1]

06:23 PM on 02/14/2010

I have once again overestimated much of the American movie-going public. I was sure Valentine's Day would bomb, that no-one in their right mind would see it.

[Helzapoppin]

08:10 AM on 02/14/2010

Good movie. I wouldn't call it a classic though. I was hoping the movie would be as dark and foreboding as the trailer, but it was generally fast-paced and not as dark, and in typical Hollywood fashion tended to trade suspense for somewhat silly gore. Although the Talbot character comes from the Universal classic, I thought this film had more in common with the 1961 Hammer Films Oliver Reed version (which is still good). In fact, there were several moments in the film that struck me stylistically as pure Hammer.

Worth seeing, could have been better, but still quite good.

[MikeMarks]

04:51 PM on 02/14/2010

as a fella with a Curse of the Werewolf poster hanging on my wall, I concur it was sourced as material, and if so, I wish they had took the romance factor of that movie all the way, the idea that if a woman could love him and shed a tear for him it would break the curse. As the tear rolled down her cheek during the death finale, I wonder if they included that aspect while filmig then disregarded it... but yes all that euro flavor of Hammer is in there while Universal only existed as his Talbert name and the gypsy camp (the father and son relationship was also more COTW, the leaping rooftops, and the romantic ripped white poets shirt though again they might have stuck with the idea of the gypsies bringing the curse into virgin teriritoy... I did like how the arrogance of a big buck showed through Hopkins make-up...

[Tallulah Morehead]

06:07 PM on 02/14/2010

I don't see how you could say that "the father and son relationship was also more COTW," since in CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF, Oliver Reed's character never meets his father, who dies before he is born.

I was always amused that Hammer's COTW was based on a novel set in France, and they moved it to Spain simply because they had a Spanish village set erected on their backlot for another movie, and wanted to get the use of it in two films before taking it down. That's pure Hammer cheap pragmatism at work. It is a pretty good film.

[rzan1]

06:21 PM on 02/14/2010

I have seen just about all the Hammer horror movies (maybe all) many times. COTW is my favorite of all of them. If this film is like that in any way, I am sure I will love it.

[MikeMarks]

03:39 AM on 02/14/2010

the movie was one note allway thro = toro was the same man when he entered the story as he was the morning after being a wolf, no evolution of character. Lon, in the original, was a witty manly charmer at the carnival with the girl and evolved into the frightened withdrawn man after the curse. The openng scene of the wolfman is intense, and his second appearance, and so on, but the stakes don't raise, there's nothing new in each scene, one note, as great as is his last appearances I'm already, 'ok, seen that..." I thouht, perhaps, noticing these things was duew to hallucinating on bad popcorn, then Toro confirmed my analysis with his bad cowboy movie death scene.

[AMWJ]

06:22 PM on 02/13/2010

believe me, Del Toro as a Welshman is difficult to stomach...but not as tough as Rick Baker's vision of what a wolf should look like.
I'm thinking Disney had a hand in this.

[AMWJ]

06:43 PM on 02/13/2010

http://filmonista.blogspot.com/

[Gasparilla]

06:07 PM on 02/13/2010

Saw it today. This is a very good movie. Also agree on the camera work, the computer generated "sets" and the sound quality. One problem I have always had with modern "scary" movies is the introduction of supposedly funny one liners that cut the tension and just reduce the movie to a joke. The originals of many of these movies were suspenseful because of the scripts which heightened the tension. That's the case with this movie. The original movie The Mummy scares you when you see nothing more than the shadow of the mummy outlined on a wall.

[LovingHope]

01:06 AM on 02/13/2010

I really like Benicio. After your review, I think I will give it a chance. I also like Anthony Hopkins and Emily Blunt. Don't care to much for the story but I like all the actors, and great acting is usually very fun to watch. Hope to see more moview with Benicio Del Toro.

[rzan1]

06:36 PM on 02/14/2010

(Off topic) LovingHope - You were right about Avatar. I truly enjoyed it in spite of my cynical self. Saw it in 3-D too. Wonderful effects. I'll be seeing Wolfman this evening.

[Tallulah Morehead]

11:31 PM on 02/12/2010

While the idea of Del Toro as a Welshman seems awfully bizarre to me, I am looking forward to seeing this movie. But shouldn't they have gone with an actor named "Del Lobo"? Or is Benecio really The Bullman?

[CynAnne]

06:45 AM on 02/13/2010

Heehee...! Just as long as they keep him away from Las Vegas, Bene should be fine... ;)

[Helzapoppin]

08:01 AM on 02/14/2010

Well, I think they handled his decidedly non-Welsh appearance through the casting for his mother. A minor point, I thought.

[skantea]

06:01 PM on 02/12/2010

okay, huffpo.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1194949-wolfman/

[RedDogBear]

05:05 PM on 02/12/2010

I like Del Torro a lot. Not Hopkins so much, a major ham in my opinion. This movie looks interesting and I'll see it but I wish Hollywood would stop just doing remakes of old movies and TV shows and get some original ideas.

[Frank Smith]

06:16 PM on 02/09/2010

The Wolfman is due . . . Dracula (vampires) and Frankenstein (zombies) have had their run.

[pdxsean]

04:33 PM on 02/09/2010

I have a couple of free passes to see it this evening, I am glad that I am in for a good time! It looks great, hard to imagine going wrong with Del Toro and Hopkins involved. They both seem to have good agents.