Theatre actor Lawrence Talbot (Benicio Del Toro) returns to his hometown of Blackmoor, England in 1891 after receiving word that his brother Ben Talbot (Simon Merrells) has disappeared. Upon his arrival, Lawrence is informed by his estranged father John Talbot (Anthony Hopkins) that Ben has indeed been found - dead in a ditch, having been ravaged by some kind of feral beast. Sympathetic towards his brother's grieving fiancee Gwen Conliffe (Emily Blunt), Lawrence vows to hunt down the murderer and, in his search for answers, is led to a gypsy camp where Ben came into possession of a strange medallion. But, during his visit with the gypsy Maleva (Geraldine Chaplin), the camp is attacked by a wolf and Lawrence is savagely bitten in the ensuing confrontation. Nursed back to health by Gwen, Lawrence begins to undergo bizarre physical changes and, when his wound vanishes completely, draws the suspicion of superstitious local townspeople. To complicate matters, Inspector Francis Abberline (Hugo Weaving) has arrived to investigate the recent attacks and takes an unusual interest in Lawrence - and his dark past. Soon, Lawrence is forced to unleash a beast from within that he never knew existed and unspeakable acts of horror follow.
Directed by Joe Johnston ("Jumanji", "Jurassic Park III"), "The Wolfman" is a throwback to the classic monster movies of old. Having followed all of the rumors of reshoots and last-minute editing and the repeated delaying of its release date, I went into "The Wolfman" with cautious expectations, bracing myself for the possibility of it being a complete and utter mess of a film. To its credit, I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw despite the fact that there some obvious parts where post-production edits had done a number on certain scenes. As a result, the beginning felt a little rushed at times, with some scenes feeling as if part of them ended up on the cutting room floor, and the pacing throughout seemed a little too up and down for my tastes. It'll be interesting to see if the studio releases an extended version on DVD and, when restored, what kind of effect those edited scenes have on the movie as a whole. Pacing and editing aside, "The Wolfman" succeeds in fulfilling its promise of providing horrific and gruesome thrills and doesn't pretend to be something its not. It never descends into one of the kill-a-minute slasher flicks that flood the theaters today but instead creates a sense of emotion with the characters while maintaining is traditional monster movie themes.
In the lead role, Benicio Del Toro is actually rather good here and earns the sympathy of the audience for his portrayal of a man haunted by his traumatic past and tormented by the tragic curse that has befallen him. Like a regular Jekyll and Hyde, Lawrence never allows the darkness of his monstrous alter ego to consume him and is driven by his need for redemption for what he has done when under the power of the beast (though a need for something else does come into play later in the film but revealing it here would spoil a nice twist). Del Toro impressed me here with his performance. Anthony Hopkins comes close to being over-the-top but never goes so far as to chew the scenery in his role as the estranged father who appears more interested in tormenting his son than being an actual father figure to him. Hopkins often comes off as cold and masochistic but keeps much of his character's intentions and motives in the shadows, to great effect. It is the dynamic between Del Toro and Hopkins that holds the story together and drives it towards its fiery conclusion. Emily Blunt is under-utilized here as the love interest Gwen Conliffe and it was interesting to see Hugo Weaving in a different role than we're to used to seeing him in.
As for the transformation scenes, color me impressed. Everyone knows that the money shots in any werewolf movie are the transformation scenes and "The Wolfman" doesn't disappoint. Relying heavily on computer-generated effects for the scenes in which Lawrence turns into a wolf man, the transformation is gruesome enough to make you feel his pain and never seems too unrealistic despite the use of computer imagery. While hardly measuring up to the now-classic scene from "An American Werewolf In London", the transformation sequences in "The Wolfman" get the job done. In the case of make-up for the actual werewolf, you can't go wrong with Academy Award-winning make-up artist Rick Baker and he does a wonderful job here with Del Toro.
Overall, I liked "The Wolfman". I'm a fan of the original "The Wolf Man" from 1941 and, while this remake hardly measures up, "The Wolfman" has its merits and is a very satisfying entry into the monster movie collection from Universal Studios. It also has its flaws in editing and pacing but it is definitely an entertaining horror film with good effects and performances and I would recommend it to any fan of classic monster movies. My rating: 7/10
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