THE WOLFMAN

Director: Jim Johnston
Stars: Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt, Hugo Weaving, Art Malik
Year: 2010
Rating: U/R

Whether terrifying me as a child, or making me laugh out loud - still - as an adult, when hooked up with Abbott and Costello, the monsters of Universal's classic and iconic horror films (Dracula, Frankenstein, the Wolfman and the Mummy) have very much been a part of my entire life. Whether good, bad, or indifferent, in the original stories featuring actors like Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney and Claude Rains (or in less-worthy, but no less entertaining, sequels and spin-offs), I have literally spent decades enjoying the Universal monsters ... and hope to spend decades more as a tremendous fan.

All of which filled me with both trepidation and excitement at just the thought of Universal resurrection the Wolfman saga via an update/remake. Much as I enjoyed Van Helsing, it was a film literally crammed full of CGI and an over-the-top performance by Richard Roxburgh - not to mention a so-so storyline and plotting. That film, today, is more of a guilty pleasure of mine than a real favorite. Hearing Rick Baker - makeup effects GENIUS - had been signed on to do the film was a help ... but the real OOMPH to my wanting to actually see the film came via the casting of Benicio Del Toro as Lawrence Talbot. Del Toro is an amazing actor, long overlooked until his Oscar nomination, and his casting in the lead perked me up a hundredfold.

Which makes it even more ironic that, sadly, Del Toro's performance is one of the weaker elements of what is otherwise an enjoyable (if not very remarkable) film.

Set in the late 19th century, Del Toro stars as stage actor Lawrence Talbot, who one night after a performance of "Hamlet" is visited by the fiancee of his brother, Ben. The girl, Gwen (Emily Blunt, in a way-too-subdued, almost bland, a performance), informs Lawrence that his brother has been killed on the moors near their childhood home, torn to shreds by some sort of animal or monster. She implores Lawrence, who is about to embark on a tour with his play, to come back to his home with her, and help her to try and solve Ben's murder. Lawrence refuses at first, but in the end takes the train home ... to his father's rather creepy, rundown estate - and his even creepier, more run-down father, Sir John (Anthony Hopkins, in the kind of role the brilliant Hopkins could play with his eyes shut). Immediately, the film sets viewers up with the fact that the two men have never exactly gotten along, and in fact Sir John has seemed to always goaded or put down his son Lawrence since childhood. Lawrence, we also learn, seems to have witnessed the suicide of his mother as a child - a traumatic event that caused the boy's having to be committed to a mental institution for a time.

Regardless, Lawrence moves in to help Gwen to find Ben's killer, and clear his own mind about having justice done. And before long, as the trail of clues leads Lawrence to a local band of gypsies, that same night the creature attacks again, killing a number of people before Lawrence finds himself one-on-one with the beast ... who gets away, but not before giving Lawrence a bite to the throat that keeps the remaining Talbot son near death for days, Gwen doing all she can to keep him alive.

Lawrence not only heals, but heals FAST - too fast for the villagers, who believe a bite from the beast guarantees his transformation INTO a beast. And as the full moon grows near, Lawrence fears for both his sanity and his life ... and the lives of those around him, when the full moon finally wanes and the change begins.

Much like the American Werewolf ... films, Rick Baker here has fashioned some eye-popping special effects for Lawrence Talbot's transformation into the Wolfman. A werewolf that walks on its two hind legs or runs on all fours, depending on what is needed, is a sweet touch too, significantly unifying the man and beast aspects of the creature into one form. The action and fights scenes in the film are beautifully shot and not without their fair share of gore - but nothing, to this viewer, that wasn't out of place in showing the severity of what an out-of-control half man-half beast could do (I saw the unrated version, with 17 additional moments of footage, so am not sure if the violence was what was put back in; supposedly most of what had been edited was stuff that established the characters and storyline more solidly). The film's dark, brooding atmosphere is perfectly rendered, as are the chase scenes through the fog-enshrouded moors ... whether it's man chasing beast or the other way 'round. In fact, the film's look is spectacular; wholly believable, and one of the best reasons to watch this one, alone.

But oddly enough, Del Toro never seems to fill the shoes of Lawrence Talbot. It's too aloof and "chilly" a performance, too removed from the character to make him fully believable AS the character. It's almost too analytical a performance, one that - surprisingly enough - doesn't mar the enjoyment of the film when the Wolfman is on-screen ... even as it somehow diminishes things like plot and character and storyline when Talbot is. Emily Blunt, similarly, seems to match Del Toro in playing Gwen, her character at times almost blending into the background with the fog, while Anthony Hopkins spends the film doing what Hopkins does best in any film - which, for him, is also no stretch. Hugo Weaving, as the police inspector Abberline, shines by comparison, as always making the most of any material he's given ... while Art Malik, as Sir Henry's manservant Singh, also manages to turn a small role into something of significance on screen, well worth watching.

The Wolfman is a worthy remake/update, semi-successfully resurrecting a classic monster for the big screen. If only the human characters had been a bit more interesting, or worth caring about, in what ends up being a fairly shaky script, then Universal could have had a real modern classic on their hands. One worth calling an homage to the original, instead of just the pale imitation of a true classic. *** - Reel Cool