The Wolfman

When it comes down to it I’d have to say that the wolfman would have to be the greatest of all the Hollywood monsters. Sure I love and continue to enjoy the likes of all the others including Dracula, Frankenstein, The Invisible Man, The Mummy and the Creature from the Black Lagoon, but with the wolfman there is something far more sinister. The whole idea of a person who knows that within him rests a feral malevolence that’ll unwillingly be unleashed in the wake of a full moon is quite formidable and certainly makes for character that is terrifying to watch on the silver screen. In usual fashion Hollywood agrees and as a result audiences have seen countless werewolf man incarnations that in some manner build onto the bequest of a monster who can only be brought down by way of a silver bullet.

To this day there’ve only been just a few werewolf man films that have successfully captured the true essence of the character most notably 1941’s “The Wolfman” which starred legendary actor Lon Chaney Jr. as the title character. In an effort to profit from other monster movie remakes of recent years Universal Pictures has brought audiences its remake “The Wolfman” which is directed by Joe Johnston, director of such films as “Honey I Shrunk the Kids,” “October Sky,” and “Jurassic Park III.” One could conclude that with a fairly talented filmmaker like [Joe] Johnston at its helm, a screenplay by Andrew Kevin Walker and David Self and a cast featuring Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt and Hugo Weaving, this is one remake that would successfully do the trick in terms of giving audiences a thrilling monster movie…sadly it is doesn’t.

Lacking the thrills and chills of original “Wolfman” Joe Johnston’s take is lifeless whose vanguard redeemable qualities rests in the films mechanical aspects including makeup creature effects, by Werewolf FX master Rick Baker, and its murky artistic integrity which is downright spectacular. The spooky ambiance of the film exactly personified the mistiness of the character itself, something I’d have to say was greatly rewarding. This timelessly bloodcurdling story of a man (Benicio Del Toro) who gets bitten by a werewolf, upon his return home to solve his brother’s murder, and in turn becomes a werewolf himself is one that requires great deal of intuitive vision, which auspiciously was still personified.

Truthfully I’d have to say that Joe Johnston was not the ideal choice for the director’s chair of the film. [Joe] Johnston himself is a good director and one who I have always had a great deal of respect for but, this film just didn’t do it for him. At first filmmaker Mark Romanek was going to helm the picture but because of budgeting dispute he left the project ultimately putting Universal Pictures in the position to employ a filmmaker to take over the project. I think vision wise Joe Johnston could’ve handled the picture however, it would seem that in the course of [Joe] Johnston’s involvement it might’ve been the films pitiable screenplay that hurt the film most. Andrew Kevin Walker and David Self designed a fine story for the films and one which itself still retained the eeriness of the original film. However, with skimpy dialogue and a lack thereof any character development the film becomes insufficient of being truly exceptional by those standards of a werewolf movie.

Inept of being as outstanding as the 1941 original the Joe Johnston directed “The Wolfman” falls short of all expectations. A lot went into this film which one can clearly observe but, I must say I was all but enthused by the final product. Benicio Del Toro and all the other actors did fine jobs but, I’ll admit they could’ve given better performances than what audiences do in fact see. Personally the best parts of [Benicio] Del Toro’s involvement were those sequences that featured him in werewolf makeup running atop the London rooftops. These sequences alone were a lot of fun and made the film entertaining but at its end this “Wolfman” manifestation isn’t at all worth the howling praise.