I'm a connoisseur of werewolf movies; as a kid I watched all the old Universal Wolfman movies with Lon Chaney Jr. as the tormented Lawrence Talbot until they ran it down into things like Abbot and Costello Meets the Wolfman. In the late 70's early 80's there was a resurgence in were-wolf movies, The Howling, An American WereWolf In London, Wolfen among others so I was really looking forward to The Wolfman.
The Wolfman has Benicio Del Toro playing Lawrence Talbot, the prodigal son of Sir John Talbot (Anthony Hopkins), summoned back to the family's decaying estate in England after the murder of his brother. Investigating the murder, Lawrence meets and falls in love with his brother's fiancé Gwen (Emily Blunt) and runs afoul of a werewolf, surviving the attack but cursing him to become a werewolf every full moon.
The Wolfman tries to mix too many elements, Gothic atmosphere, a little Freud, ghost children, a decaying estate, deep dark family secrets, Victorian asylums, Gypsies, curses, frightened townspeople, werewolf movie lore, and the ingredients don't mix quite right. The Wolfman also borrows from modern werewolf movie lore incorporating the febrile dreams used to greater effect in An American Werewolf in London. Lawrence is taken to a London asylum where the doctors "get Victorian" on Lawrence with their treatments. It's in the asylum that we see the first real transformation of Lawerence into the wolfman. He's wheeled into a filled operating theater for observation as the full moon rises, and Lawerence vows he'll kill them all. Unfortunately, the scene evokes more chuckles than terror or horror.
Del Toro as Lawrence turns in a solid performance as Lawrence, but doesn't deliver the tortured soul that fears becoming The Wolfman. Benicio Del Toro is a much better actor than Lon Chaney Jr's heavy handed Lawerence Talbot was, but I think Chaney's Talbot was much better at conveying this element of the wolfman. The love affair between Lawerence and Gwen is hampered by there being very little chemistry between Del Toro and Emily Blunt, whose love must save Lawrence from the curse, we never quite believe or see how these two have fallen in love. I think this Wolfman may assume the viewer knows much of the mythology and provides only the outlines of the characters. Hugo Weaving plays Inspector Aberline, fresh off the Jack The Ripper case, who doesn't believe in curses and werewolves but suspects Lawrence of being the lunatic murderer he's searching for. Anthony Hopkins seems to chew the scenery (pardon the pun and the cliché) as Sir John, but it's a much different role than the Claude Rains' Sir John of the 1941 original. Hopkins seems to be taking the roundabout way of being the modern Karlov or Lugosi, he was in Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula, as well as that modern monster Hannibal Lecter.
Rick Baker did the make-up on The Wolfman, and you can see Del Toro's face in The Wolfman make-up (maybe The Wolfman looks a little too pretty). Director Joe Johnston who was formerly a storyboard artist for George Lucas is great on atmosphere and mood and does better on the technical end than the performance.
The Wolfman has Benicio Del Toro playing Lawrence Talbot, the prodigal son of Sir John Talbot (Anthony Hopkins), summoned back to the family's decaying estate in England after the murder of his brother. Investigating the murder, Lawrence meets and falls in love with his brother's fiancé Gwen (Emily Blunt) and runs afoul of a werewolf, surviving the attack but cursing him to become a werewolf every full moon.
The Wolfman tries to mix too many elements, Gothic atmosphere, a little Freud, ghost children, a decaying estate, deep dark family secrets, Victorian asylums, Gypsies, curses, frightened townspeople, werewolf movie lore, and the ingredients don't mix quite right. The Wolfman also borrows from modern werewolf movie lore incorporating the febrile dreams used to greater effect in An American Werewolf in London. Lawrence is taken to a London asylum where the doctors "get Victorian" on Lawrence with their treatments. It's in the asylum that we see the first real transformation of Lawerence into the wolfman. He's wheeled into a filled operating theater for observation as the full moon rises, and Lawerence vows he'll kill them all. Unfortunately, the scene evokes more chuckles than terror or horror.
Del Toro as Lawrence turns in a solid performance as Lawrence, but doesn't deliver the tortured soul that fears becoming The Wolfman. Benicio Del Toro is a much better actor than Lon Chaney Jr's heavy handed Lawerence Talbot was, but I think Chaney's Talbot was much better at conveying this element of the wolfman. The love affair between Lawerence and Gwen is hampered by there being very little chemistry between Del Toro and Emily Blunt, whose love must save Lawrence from the curse, we never quite believe or see how these two have fallen in love. I think this Wolfman may assume the viewer knows much of the mythology and provides only the outlines of the characters. Hugo Weaving plays Inspector Aberline, fresh off the Jack The Ripper case, who doesn't believe in curses and werewolves but suspects Lawrence of being the lunatic murderer he's searching for. Anthony Hopkins seems to chew the scenery (pardon the pun and the cliché) as Sir John, but it's a much different role than the Claude Rains' Sir John of the 1941 original. Hopkins seems to be taking the roundabout way of being the modern Karlov or Lugosi, he was in Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula, as well as that modern monster Hannibal Lecter.
Rick Baker did the make-up on The Wolfman, and you can see Del Toro's face in The Wolfman make-up (maybe The Wolfman looks a little too pretty). Director Joe Johnston who was formerly a storyboard artist for George Lucas is great on atmosphere and mood and does better on the technical end than the performance.