I have to admit that I had been looking forward to The wolfman for quite some time now. I'm a huge fan of the classic monster movie and a re-imagining of The wolfman seemed like great idea because it's been a while since we had a good, bloody gorefest of a monster movie and it was a chance to bring back the innocence that those kinds of movies had in the early days of Hollywood. By "innocence" I mean that they were fast-paced, had high entertainment value and scared the living shit out of people. Now, how does the latest version of The wolfman compare to its ancestors? Well...(sigh)
I was perfectly aware of the behind-the-scenes problems this movie had: the original director Mark Romanek left the project at the eleventh hour due to "creative differences" and was replaced by Joe Johnston (the underrated Jurrasic park III, the upcoming Captain America). The release date was pushed back several times, composer Danny Elfman left the project and then came back again, there was a possibility the rating would be PG-13, there were re-shoots, reports of two different endings and the list goes on and on... But that doesn't necessarily mean the movie would suck, right? I mean, James Cameron went way over-budget and exceeded the filming schedule on Titanic and look what happened. Right? Don't know if the behind-the- scenes shenanigans are to blame but The wolfman does a few things right and many, MANY things wrong...
In the past you could at least depend on bad movies looking like crap. Not anymore. The wolfman is visually one of the best bad movies I've ever seen. The cinematography captures the creepy mood of 19-century English countryside beautifully. The woods are threatening , just as they should be, the candle-lit interiors, not to mention Rick Baker's wonderful make-up design... Unfortunately, the movie falls flat on every other aspect.
The story follows Lawrence Talbot (Benicio Del Toro), a Shakespearean actor (I'm not shitting you) who comes back to his father's country estate after years of absence. Apparently Lawrence's brother had been killed by some sort of wild beast and Lawrence intends to find out what exactly happened, much to the disdain of his estranged father, Sir John (Anthony Hopkins). He also meets his late brother's fiancee Gwen (Emily Blunt) and the two take a liking to each other. While trying to find out how who or what killed his brother, Lawrence is also attacked and as a result starts turning into a werewolf, an out of control beast that rips the guts out everyone who gets in its way. And in the process Lawrence learns that he's a chip off the ol' block in more ways than one.
For the first half hour I was really into this movie. The jump scares are effective (I hate those), blood and guts are flying all over, the pacing is good.... Alas, the 70 minutes that follow are an unholy mess. For some reason after Lawrence is attacked the movie takes a nose dive. The pacing becomes much slower, the plot jumps from scene to scene without any explanation. Minor spoiler: After his very first transformation, Lawrence ends up in a mental institution and it happens so quickly that it doesn't allow the character to properly understand and come to terms with what has happened with him. And scenes like this are many. Continuity is not one of this movie's strong suits either. Case in point: Are we really supposed to accept that Benicio Del Toro and Anthony Hopkins are father and son?! Lawrence is English but apparently after moving to America he acquired a perfect American accent and not only that, he became Portorican. Which brings us to the most dissapointing aspect: the performances
At first glance Benicio Del Toro is the perfect choice to play The wolfman. He has an ability as an actor to play tortured characters beautifully (he won an Oscar doing it in Traffic), and he can also be menacing. But playing and English nobleman/Shakespearean actor... That he cannot do. He's amazingly unconvincing and basically sleeps through his respective role.
Anthony Hopkins on the other hand chews his way through the movie and that would be fun if not for the unexplainable change in the character's not only behavior but also physical appearance. The first half of the movie he walks around in his bathrobe with his hair going in 10 different directions, acting like a mad man. But in the second half he changes completely, wearing respectable clothes, talking more calmly, ect. Go figure...
Emily Blunt ... I don't even know what to write here. Her character is so bland and worthless that if she wasn't in the movie, it wouldn't be noticed. Sure she plays an important role in the end but too little too late
The only one who seems to be accepting the tone this movie ought to be going for is Hugo Weaving as a Scotland Yard inspector investigating the gruesome murders. He's funny, has witty dialogue and is a joy to watch while everyone else plays it so seriously.
Like I've already mentioned, the movie has its fair share of fun bloodshed and effective scares, Gollum-looking creatures but between all that are endless awfully paced scenes of dramatic dialogue, Benicio Del Toro looking bored, creature effects looking organic and convincing one moment but looking like bad CGI the next, bunch of scenes explaining everything, stupid decisions, situations that defy reasoning (Moonlight is blasting away but the transformation is delayed just so two characters can have a conversation),ect, ect. And there's the surprise twist which is completely useless and its only purpose is to have Minor spoiler, two CGI creatures fight it out by a blazzing fire. But the most insulting plot point is giving The wolfman emotions. The main difference between The wolfman and other classic movie monsters like Dracula and Frankenstein is that The wolfman has no personality and is a pure beast. Giving him emotions... NO NO NO!!
If it weren't for a special lady on my left, one of my best friends on my right and his better half two seats from me, this thing would be much harder to endure. It should serve as an example how bad editing can ruin a movie
See the 1941, 69 minute original instead.
I was perfectly aware of the behind-the-scenes problems this movie had: the original director Mark Romanek left the project at the eleventh hour due to "creative differences" and was replaced by Joe Johnston (the underrated Jurrasic park III, the upcoming Captain America). The release date was pushed back several times, composer Danny Elfman left the project and then came back again, there was a possibility the rating would be PG-13, there were re-shoots, reports of two different endings and the list goes on and on... But that doesn't necessarily mean the movie would suck, right? I mean, James Cameron went way over-budget and exceeded the filming schedule on Titanic and look what happened. Right? Don't know if the behind-the- scenes shenanigans are to blame but The wolfman does a few things right and many, MANY things wrong...
In the past you could at least depend on bad movies looking like crap. Not anymore. The wolfman is visually one of the best bad movies I've ever seen. The cinematography captures the creepy mood of 19-century English countryside beautifully. The woods are threatening , just as they should be, the candle-lit interiors, not to mention Rick Baker's wonderful make-up design... Unfortunately, the movie falls flat on every other aspect.
The story follows Lawrence Talbot (Benicio Del Toro), a Shakespearean actor (I'm not shitting you) who comes back to his father's country estate after years of absence. Apparently Lawrence's brother had been killed by some sort of wild beast and Lawrence intends to find out what exactly happened, much to the disdain of his estranged father, Sir John (Anthony Hopkins). He also meets his late brother's fiancee Gwen (Emily Blunt) and the two take a liking to each other. While trying to find out how who or what killed his brother, Lawrence is also attacked and as a result starts turning into a werewolf, an out of control beast that rips the guts out everyone who gets in its way. And in the process Lawrence learns that he's a chip off the ol' block in more ways than one.
For the first half hour I was really into this movie. The jump scares are effective (I hate those), blood and guts are flying all over, the pacing is good.... Alas, the 70 minutes that follow are an unholy mess. For some reason after Lawrence is attacked the movie takes a nose dive. The pacing becomes much slower, the plot jumps from scene to scene without any explanation. Minor spoiler: After his very first transformation, Lawrence ends up in a mental institution and it happens so quickly that it doesn't allow the character to properly understand and come to terms with what has happened with him. And scenes like this are many. Continuity is not one of this movie's strong suits either. Case in point: Are we really supposed to accept that Benicio Del Toro and Anthony Hopkins are father and son?! Lawrence is English but apparently after moving to America he acquired a perfect American accent and not only that, he became Portorican. Which brings us to the most dissapointing aspect: the performances
At first glance Benicio Del Toro is the perfect choice to play The wolfman. He has an ability as an actor to play tortured characters beautifully (he won an Oscar doing it in Traffic), and he can also be menacing. But playing and English nobleman/Shakespearean actor... That he cannot do. He's amazingly unconvincing and basically sleeps through his respective role.
Anthony Hopkins on the other hand chews his way through the movie and that would be fun if not for the unexplainable change in the character's not only behavior but also physical appearance. The first half of the movie he walks around in his bathrobe with his hair going in 10 different directions, acting like a mad man. But in the second half he changes completely, wearing respectable clothes, talking more calmly, ect. Go figure...
Emily Blunt ... I don't even know what to write here. Her character is so bland and worthless that if she wasn't in the movie, it wouldn't be noticed. Sure she plays an important role in the end but too little too late
The only one who seems to be accepting the tone this movie ought to be going for is Hugo Weaving as a Scotland Yard inspector investigating the gruesome murders. He's funny, has witty dialogue and is a joy to watch while everyone else plays it so seriously.
Like I've already mentioned, the movie has its fair share of fun bloodshed and effective scares, Gollum-looking creatures but between all that are endless awfully paced scenes of dramatic dialogue, Benicio Del Toro looking bored, creature effects looking organic and convincing one moment but looking like bad CGI the next, bunch of scenes explaining everything, stupid decisions, situations that defy reasoning (Moonlight is blasting away but the transformation is delayed just so two characters can have a conversation),ect, ect. And there's the surprise twist which is completely useless and its only purpose is to have Minor spoiler, two CGI creatures fight it out by a blazzing fire. But the most insulting plot point is giving The wolfman emotions. The main difference between The wolfman and other classic movie monsters like Dracula and Frankenstein is that The wolfman has no personality and is a pure beast. Giving him emotions... NO NO NO!!
If it weren't for a special lady on my left, one of my best friends on my right and his better half two seats from me, this thing would be much harder to endure. It should serve as an example how bad editing can ruin a movie
See the 1941, 69 minute original instead.
''Lawrence is English but apparently after moving to America he acquired a perfect American accent and not only that, he became Portorican.''
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Moram reci da CGI nisam ni skuzio kad sam gledao ovaj film. Sto je cudno, jer sam uvijek bio veliki CGI buff. U zadnje vrijeme bas i nisam, jer CGI je kompletno preuzeo sve...
OdgovoriIzbrišiNo da. I meni se najvise svidjela atmosfera u filmu, ali prica nema smisla i los je pacing. A scare-BOO! momenti me uopce ne impresioniraju i malo su pretjerali s njima.
Just calling 'em as I see 'em :-)
OdgovoriIzbrišiIz nekog razloga stvarno ne podnosim jump scareove tako da su meni neki funkcionirali, ali da previše ih je i s vremenom postaju predvidivi. Koliko sam čitao, kompletno skakanje po krovovima Londona je CGI, kao i dobar dio final fighta
OdgovoriIzbrišiTo mi je bilo jasno; ono sto nisam uopce registrirao bili su medvjed i onaj jelen/sob/stogod. Uopce nisam primijetio da su CGI, a onda vidim na IMDB-u da svi pljuju kako su lose napravljeni. :D
OdgovoriIzbrišiJoj da, jelen i medvjed :-o
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