The Wolfman

Title: The Wolfman
Year: 2010
Director: Joe Johnston
Writers: Andrew Kevin Walker and David Self, inspired by the Curt Siodmak screenplay for the original 1941 film
Starring: Benicio del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt, Hugo Weaving and Geraldine Chaplin
MPAA Rating: R, bloody horror violence and gore
Runtime: 103 min
Major Awards: –
IMDb Rating: 6.3
Rotten Tomatoes: 32%

Yes, the scope is large, and the effects are good enough, but for a film based on one of the best horror stories ever this adaptation lacks every single chill and suspense one would have expected. The movie was pushed back a couple of times, a really bad sign most of the times, so I set my expectations low, and even then I kind of felt disappointed, mostly because I really like the cast, but still, I respect The Wolfman because it didn’t do what films are doing these days, which is reinvent the tale, I really loved that instead it did it the way the story was first done set late in the 19th century.

The production values of the film are quite good, which you would expect with a $150 million budget, and the look of the film is the right one, foggy outdoors, creepy shadows and the huge house of Sir John Talbot, the Anthony Hopkins character, all look fitting in the world Joe Johnston has crafted so carefully for The Wolfman.

I like that feeling, I really do, I like how The Wolfman feels, I like how it feels when Mr. Del Toro’s character, Lawrence, the brother of the dead fiancée to Gwen, Ms. Blunt’s character, arrives, it looks the way it ought to look. And because of that I really did like the film, Joe Johnston made this film in a way that does not seem rushed, even though I think it should have gone on for a quarter hour longer, but for that I guess there’ll be a Director’s Cut of the Blu-Ray, so we’ll wait, and the music is tremendous as well, but then again that can be expected when you see it’s done by Danny Elfman.

But I don’t know, there was just something I didn’t like, and for the life of me I truly can’t spot what it is other than the fact that it provided no genuine chills. The performances are all okay, though none spectacular, the movie looks and feels the way it should and the effects, even though aren’t mind-blowing, are good enough (Del Toro’s makeup took three hours to put on), but still, I didn’t love the film, I thought it was okay, but nothing more, and I hate feeling empty after leaving the theater and not knowing why.

Grade: C