The Wolfman: A Remake That Lacks Any Bite
Contains spoilers!
As mentioned in its review, The Wolf-Man (1941) is my absolute favorite. Lon Chaney, Jr. is charming in the role of Lawrence Talbot, and I adore the makeup and the transformation; without CGI, it’s simple tricks and fades to show the transformation from man to beast. Released in 2010, The Wolfman, directed by Joe Johnson, lacks the charm of the original, but it does have a few accomplishments, given the updated technology.
The film tells the story of Lawrence Talbot (Benicio del Toro), who returns to his childhood home after his brother’s mysterious death. He encounters his father Sir John (Anthony Hopkins) and his brother’s fiancé Gwen (Emily Blunt). While investigating his brother’s death, Lawrence is bitten by a werewolf and begins his own reign of terror and bloodshed. Lawrence is pursued by Inspector Aberline (Hugo Weaving), who arrives to stop the murders.
As mentioned, del Toro lacks much of the charm that Chaney, Jr., brought during his tenure as the titular character. Rather, del Toro’s Lawrence is haunted by his past, having spent much of his childhood in an insane asylum; we’ll get to the technical aspects of that later. His chemistry with Blunt’s Gwen is non-existent, also bringing Lawrence shame for going against the bro code; going after your dead brother’s fiancé is a weird idea.
The strangest casting of the film is Sir Anthony Hopkins as Sir John. It’s clear that the makers of the film wanted Hopkins based on his performance as Hannibal Lecter. However, it was a combination of Hopkins’ performance and fantastic script that made Lecter so scary and memorable. In this film, the filmmakers relied solely on Hopkins to make the character scary. It’s revealed that Sir John is a werewolf himself, the one that bit Lawrence, murdered the brother, and killed his wife (Lawrence’s mother). Simply by watching the film, one can easily determine that Hopkins is the werewolf, but it’s treated as a major twist. Lawrence is stupid since he can’t solve this two-piece puzzle.
Where the film does succeed, though, is in the technical and makeup aspects. Rick Baker (of fame) created the Wolfman’s makeup, and it proves why Rick Baker won that Oscar for American Werewolf in London. It seems to me, if you’re making a werewolf movie, call Rick Baker; don’t do that, he’s retired. Likewise, the CGI is (for the most part) solid as a rock, especially during the transformation scenes. The only time it falters is during the climax, when Hopkins is turning into his werewolf form. He looks plain ridiculous.
Credit where credit is due, I applaud the film for adding some more mythic to Lawrence and his character. I simply wish they had been better executed. Nevertheless, there is something to this movie that makes it a guilty pleasure, and I’ll always be happy to return for another bite.
Cast
Benicio del Toro as Lawrence Talbot
Sir Anthony Hopkins as Sir John Talbot
Emily Blunt as Gwen Conliffe
Hugo Weaving as Inspector Francis Aberline
