Monday, February 15, 2010

At the Movies - The Wolfman


The Wolfman


Staring Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt, Hugo Weaving.



A 'retelling' of sorts of the original legend of the wolfman, complete with throwback werewolf appearance. (i.e. - Lon Chaney Jr.)

This movie was odd and off-kilter in just about every aspect. While the wolfman looked old-fashioned, the blood & guts was definitely modern. The story seemed forced and several (okay most) plot points were glossed over so the viewers wouldn't have time to dwell and realize it made no sense. Or didn't really connect. I'd provide details, but I don't feel like recounting the entire movie! And while the film is only 1:30 long, while watching it, the movie felt much longer...

Emily Blunt tries and Hugo Weaving is good. But Del Toro is horribly mis-cast as the wolfman. He is also indifferent to the point that we don't care either! And there is nothing frightening about this werewolf - the throwback appearance assures us of that.

If you really want a good werewolf tale, rent any of the Underworld movies or American Werewolf in London. Even Silver Bullet is far better!



However, there was one very interesting preview - Repo Men. This sci-fi thriller stars Jude Law, Forest Whitaker, and Liev Schreiber, and it comes out on March 19th. Forget the Emilio Estevez movie - this one is about artificial organs not cars. Unless the critics grind it into the ground, I will be checking this one out next month!

11 comments:

L. Diane Wolfe said...

Thanks, I'll cross that one off my list then!

Sarah Ahiers said...

aww that makes me sad. i wanted it to be good.

But repo man - that sounds awesome. I love me some Liev Schreiber

Helen Ginger said...

Hadn't really planned on seeing Wolfman; I'm not fond of movies that are scary - and I thought this one would be. Hadn't heard of RepoMen, but that one I may go see, even though it, too, will probably be scary. I'll take my DH with me so I'll have someone to grab when I scream.

Helen
Straight From Hel

Jemi Fraser said...

I don't usually see many movies in the theater - I'll definitely save this one for the rental store :)

The Old Silly said...

Thanks for the heads up. I was wondering if this one was worth it - there have been SO many good werewolf movies already.

Creative Chronicler said...

With such a great cast and potential, that is sad to hear that it doesn't live up to even the trailer. Thanks for the info!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Yes, CC - such a great cast and it was rather wasted.

For once the critics were right - it's just not very good.

DEZMOND said...

I wondered for years, while the production was on, why they've chosen Del Toro for a leading role. He just isn't that type of actor.

You have a post on REPO MEN somewhere in HOLLYWOOD SPY :)

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Yes, and thanks Dez, I noticed I am in your blogroll. Appreciate it!

And I don't have a banner, but I'd gladly put yours up here.

And Del Toro was SO wrong for the roll.

DEZMOND said...

Well, send me your e-mail address (you have mine over at my profile) and I'll send you the code for my banner, and off course if you make your own as well, I shall display it over at HOLLYWOOD SPY :) I always support sf, movies, books and good people :)

Hannah said...

Ah, man. Why can't there be any good werewolf movies?!

There's like 2, that I can think of right now..."Silver Bullet" and "Underworld" and only the first one.