How many times did 'The Wolfman' get pushed back? Like, a million? When any movie gets delayed more than once, you start to worry. You start to think that what probably happened was that it was screened to people in its earliest potentially finished forms, and that everyone thought it was shit. The woeful director of the even worse than 'The Lost World' sequel 'Jurassic Park 3' was forced (and I stress) on more than one occasion to return to the cutting room floor (and more than likely, the set) in the hope than he could somehow rectify the situation and do justice to the proposed modern adaptation of a Lon Chaney classic. At least, that's what I think based on the final product.
The cast reaks of impressive. Benicio Del Toro seemed like a great choice from the start. How his Amerixican accent would be written in was a concern, but they gave him a Latin mother to Anthony Hopkins' father along with a globetrotting American theatre company. Even still, there was no way he was ever English (or Welsh, if we're talking about the 1941 original). Never the less, Del Toro is decent even when plagued with a horrific script. Hardly a standout performer in this particular picture though. It's tough competing against a real heavyweight.
Sir Anthony Hopkins was always the main draw leading up to this film's (eventual) release. Anthony Hopkins can make any movie 'good'. You only have to watch 'Fracture' or 'Bad Company' once to realise that. He is what they call a classically trained actor, which basically means he can do anything asked of him without having to try too hard. Before 'The Wolfman' had surfaced, there were stories of Hopkins requesting a harmonica on the set so that rather than walking ominously down an asylum hallway to a Danny Elfman soundtrack, he's heard mouthing a whacky, wolfy tune (you know, for a laugh). This scene actually ended up being the single highlight of the film. Credit to you, Sir Anthony Hopkins. I guess by this point in filming you had figured out that the whole shoot was a bit of a joke said, 'Hey guys! Let's jazz things up a bit with a harmonica solo. You can't say no to me Joe Johnston, 'Hidalgo' sucked and I'm a freaking knight!' That's exactly how it happened? I thought so.
Emily Blunt is always nice to see in something that's not about royalty, but her accent slipped in a very Sam Worthington type way more often than not in most scenes. So much so that it's kind of hard to believe that she was the subject of early Oscar whispers upon the release of 'The Young Victoria'. I like Blunt though, she brings real emotion to a character. 'Sunshine Cleaning' was also good, so she's had a decent year.
The real treat in 'The Wolfman' though is Hugo Weaving. He's just got a presence on screen that I always find it hard to explain. Be it Agent Smith, Elrond or the faceless 'V', he has a general haunting about his voice when he needs it. If any movie needs an influx of unsettling, Weaving will provide. As the snooty Detective Abberline, he plays confident cop as well as he plays terrified citizen, but again it's the script that severely undercuts any chance this movie has of being remembered past the opening weekend of 'Alice in Wonderland'. Did I just say script? I meant visual effects.
You remember when David Naughton turned into a werewolf...in London? Awesome, right? Yeah, in 1981! You'd have thought that almost 30 years later, after all the Avatars and Lord of the Ringses, they would be able to turn Benicio Del Toro (and more comically, Sir Anthony Hopkins) into a genuinely horrible-looking manbeast with a hint of conviction. I guess in a way it was quite horrible, but to be honest, Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' will keep me up more nights. I don't know if the stop-motion transformations were meant to be some sort of homage to John Landis' Oscar-winning creature feature (which combined with Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' keeps me up most nights), but they sure looked dated. They were also blended with some rad 1995 CGI to give the film the real post-gothic look it was going for. That last part is sarcasm.
Couple all this with the expected plotholes and obvious 'twists' and you've got the latest in what is sure to be a long underwhelming line of remakes, updates and prequels of a genre that needn't be touched. You mean to tell me that 70 years on, horror film-writers can't come up with something scarier than a 'wolfman'? Quit recycling and put something on screen that makes me want to never go to bed again. Maybe a Peter Andre biopic starring Channing Tatum?
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