The Wolfman

I expected a horror flick; I anticipated an homage to the original. But what I didn't expect was a complex drama that combines more genres than I could ever have hoped for. The script hints from the very beginning that we're going into the darkest waters, and the transformation into a monster is shown through advanced mental decay. At first glance, the "fake" scary moments may seem like clichéd flaws, but in the context of the film as a whole, these scenes serve as progressing traumas. Like a nightmare from which the main hero jerks awake, only to wake up to a real, creeping, and inevitable reality that is just as terrifying as the imagined horrors. Moreover, Joe Johnston's directing amplifies all of this into a depressive second nature. And when Benicio Del Toro and Anthony Hopkins share dialogue together, there's nothing left to discuss. A very unique work has been created, which is certainly not for everyone, but those who can look at it differently than just a monster movie can take away more than they ever expected. (13/09/2011)

Epic period horror with a badass atmosphere, nice make-up and good actors in the main roles. That’s a pretty good calling card, but The Wolfman is unfortunately missing a few key elements. It’s unable to generate fear or tension, it isn’t entertaining, or disgusting, or shocking. It just quietly wanders about in the background in a way that you can barely register, let alone remember. It’s not bad, but it’s a shame that with the money spent on it, you could get quite a few young, unpretentious filmmakers who’d be able to make about dozen better movies. (18/02/2010)

It's a yawn. Considering the movie is 102 minutes long and I watched it from 6pm to 12:30am, I think it's clear how much it held my attention, how much I was interested to see how it would turn out. A werewolf straight out of Planet of the Apes. Death right after, thanks, and such a – ugh, bleh, ah; finito. The very end of the film couldn't have been more stupid. But I'd forgive it if – as I say – it wasn't such a yawn. I don't understand why I wanted to see this movie; good thing it's over. (03/04/2010)

A film on the edge. I definitely count the graphic and at times perhaps a little explicit violence for effect among the pluses of the film. Also the fantastic production design and cinematography. However, The Wolfman falls down on the fact that Joe Johnston is not much of a director. He references classic Universal works with an almost irritating naivety and clichéd story, but then takes it out of context with scenes cut exactly in the vein of contemporary horror films, in particular the ubiquitous and (at least for me in this film) non-functioning jump scares really stink. Otherwise, the pretty good CGI effects don't offend, but watching it I kept thinking of the much better An American Werewolf in London, where the monster was also fantastic and yet it was just a matter of good masks. This way, for example, the fight between two werewolves reminded me quite a bit of Sommers' cockamamie Van Helsing. The last criticism belongs once again to the director and is most palpable at the beginning. The Wolfman has an awfully strong trio of actors at its disposal (Hopkins, del Toro, Weaving), but Johnson fails to lead them in any way. This is how, with del Toro in particular, we get theatrical overacting that is unlike anything he's done before, and it's clear that the problem won't be on his side. In conclusion, I have to admit that my cinematic experience was disrupted by a trio of misfit teenagers who just had to be super funny as usual, and while the scene was loud, their speeches were always flexibly adapted to ensure that no one in the theatre happened to hear them. Kill. (19/02/2010)

Despite not being faithful to the original, Johnston is more true to its spirit and atmosphere of classic horrors from Universal. Both the well-known and well-made, and also those magical naive “such-and-such versus something-or-other" B-movies. I couldn’t ask for more. And it’s also evident that the creators love these movies (there is endless proof of this, e.g. the scene with the medical symposium where they nod at the initial aim of the original, before the studio stepped in). And not just because my heart beat away in utter delight for the entire movie (quite appropriately, since it was Valentine’s Day), which prevented me from making a valid comment about the fact that in some places it was really rather obvious that they didn’t see eye to eye with the producers as to the final cut. (16/02/2010)