BOTTOM LINE: Misguided, uneven and poorly executed, this re-telling of "The Wolfman" is by and large a waste of time, despite some excellent production design and visuals.
THE GOOD: Starting from good source material, "The Wolfman" seeks to tell the classic tale of the man cursed to turn in to a werewolf whenever the moon is full. Benicio Del Toro plays Lawrence Talbot, the prodigal son who returns to the family estate of his father Sir John Talbot (Anthony Hopkins) upon hearing the news of the death of his brother Ben at the hands of a wild animal. Wanting to find answers, Lawrence eventually becomes cursed himself when he is attacked by the werewolf. Condemned to damnation and life as a werewolf when the moon turns full, Lawrence eventually discovers the truth about his father, and his mother's death, which leads to a violent confrontation and resolution between them.
Much of "The Wolfman" succeeds in its production design, visuals and creature design. The werewolves in particular look particularly frightening and real, as do the gothic images that create the viewing experience. Del Toro does an effective job of portraying the tragedy of his character, and Emily Blunt is decent as the woman who is trying to save him. "The Wolfman" looks good, and in some sense is a noble effort in trying to make this a serious monster movie that stands apart from other films like "The Mummy" which induced comedy along with the scares.
THE BAD: Mis-directed and poorly executed, "The Wolfman" sabotages itself at every turn thanks to muddled plotting, inconsistent character actions and a poor meld of traditional make up and computer generated effects. The first half of the film does not make clear the character relations or the set up of what type of film it is trying to be. As a result, the other wise good cast look confused some of the time, with Anthony Hopkins in particular putting in an uneven performance, thanks largely to a poorly written script. The relationships between Lawrence and Gwen (Emily Blunt) is badly handled; in some ways trying to create a romantic link but in others showing that it is inappropriate given that Gwen is Lawrence's dead brother's fiancee.
The use of traditional make up techniques works well in the film, but when computer generated effects take over, the otherwise gritty gothic film makes way for a more cartoon element in the computer effects which makes the whole thing silly and unbelievable. "The Wolfman" was reported to be plagued by production problems and this is certainly evident by what you see on screen; a film that is directionless, uninspired and something of a mess.
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