Movie Review: The Wolfman (2010)
I remember being so excited when I heard this movie was being made. I’m a big fan of the Universal Monster movies of the 1930s and ’40s and 1941’s The Wolf Man has always been one of my favorites. I followed the production of this a little bit — as much as someone in high school at the time could, I imagine. I remember being excited to hear that it wasn’t going to be all CGI, I remember liking the casting of Anthony Hopkins in the Claude Rains role, and I was blown away by the first glimpses at the werewolf makeup.
And yet, when this was released, for whatever reason, I didn’t see it. The movie got mediocre reviews, which was disappointing, but more than anything, it just seemed to disappear and be forgotten as soon as it was released. The movie had a $150 million budget, and only grossed just under $140 million, so it’s probably safe to call this movie a major flop.
Still, it does a lot of things right. Unlike the recent Mummy remake, this movie has a gothic setting and a genuinely creepy atmosphere, with plenty of fog and period detail. It’s a wonderful looking movie. While I’d never call myself a fan of director Joe Johnston due to how much Jurassic Park III offends me, he seems to always be trying to make an old-fashioned movie. Look to how The Rocketeer is a throwback to 1940s adventure serials, or to how Jumanji has a classic adventure feel. Hell, even look at Captain America: The First Avenger — which, while it fails in many ways, does succeed in evoking the same time period and feel as The Rocketeer.
Yet he’s largely disappeared in recent years, which is strange, given how he directed such a big movie in Captain America. I think it’s safe to say the box office failure of this movie has something to do with that, and reportedly he really got the directing job for Captain America because of his work on The Rocketeer.
As a director, he does a good job here. This is a great looking movie, and he gets some good performances out of his actors. The film’s shortcomings — of which there are many — come almost exclusively from a stale script.
I wouldn’t call it a shot-for-shot remake or anything like that, but it certainly is very faithful to the 1941 Lon Chaney, Jr. film. In hindsight, that’s probably a mistake. I like the 1999 Mummy movie a lot because while its story is pretty faithful, it does a lot of things very differently than the 1932 Boris Karloff classic. I think there’s a middle ground that could be reached here — a chance to still make an old fashioned movie that feels more like another werewolf story being told and less like a retelling of the classic Universal film.
The movie follows most of the same story beats as the 1941 film with some exceptions. Lawrence Talbot (Benicio Del Toro) returns home to look for his missing brother upon the urgings of his brother’s fiancee, Gwen Conliffe (Emily Blunt, Edge of Tomorrow). He doesn’t really get along with his father, Sir John (Anthony Hopkins), following a long absence.
It turns out Lawrence’s brother is dead, mawled by a werewolf, but with some of the locals blaming the band of gypsies who have a dancing bear. It’s revealed that Lawrence’s mother committed suicide, and that as a boy, Lawrence had seen his father by her body, which traumatized him and caused him to have delusions.
Lawrence goes to the gypsy camp, and a werewolf attacks, biting him in the neck. He gets treated by Maleva (Geraldine Chaplin, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom), who refuses to kill him, saying that only a loved one can do so.
An inspector from Scotland Yard, Aberline (Hugo Weaving, The Matrix), arrives to investigate, believing Lawrence to be responsible. Lawrence is now growing attached to Gwen, who he sends away, fearing for her life.
When Sir John locks himself in a crypt, Lawrence transforms into a werewolf and runs out in the night, killing some hunters. This scene is probably the best in the movie. It’s lit really nicely, allowing the werewolf mostly to be shown in darkness and illuminating him mainly through the light of firing guns. It’s also horrifically violent, as it probably should be.
The next morning, Lawrence is greeted by his father, and is arrested and taken to an asylum in London, where he’s tortured and has visions of his father, his mother, himself as a boy, and even a topless Emily Blunt.
Through these visions, he realizes his father is a werewolf and was responsible for the death of both his mother and brother.
The head of the asylum brings a strapped up Lawrence to a bunch of people to perform a case study, showing that he will not transform during the full moon. He of course does, and breaks loose, killing a bunch of people and running all about London. Inspector Aberline, who had been there for the lecture, chases after the werewolf, shooting at him to no avail.
The next day, Talbot seeks out and finds Gwen. They admit their love for each other and kiss. Aberline eventually shows up to take Talbot into custody, but finds he has already escaped to the country. Gwen goes in pursuit of him, hoping to help him. She finds the gypsy Maleva, and gets some advice.
Lawrence returns once again to his home, and both he and his father transform and fight. This is the weakest part of the movie, and it really makes it feel like a mediocre action movie. It doesn’t help that the visual effects have dated, either. Lawrence sets his werewolf father on fire and decapitates him. Gwen and Aberline both arrive with the mansion now set on fire.
Aberline goes to shoot Lawrence with a silver bullet, but Gwen stops him. He gets attacked, and Gwen runs. Injured but alive, Aberline pursues the Wolfman.
When Gwen is trapped, she tries to plead with Lawrence, who does appear to recognize her. Hunters arrive and the Wolfman goes to attack her, but she shoots him. Dying, he reverts back to his human self.
It’s implied at the end of the film that Aberline is now going to transform because he had been bitten. I don’t think there was really intended to be a sequel, but as I’ve already said, this movie flopped, so maybe had it been successful, there would have been one.
It’s a decent movie with a pretty weak final act. Blunt and Del Toro both give committed performances that make much of the movie work.
The makeup on the werewolf is quite well done, but the CGI is disappointing. Still, it’s nice that this movie features a blend of both, as opposed to most movies today, which would only use CGI. Rick Baker won his seventh and to date final Academy Award for his makeup work, and it’s well deserved, as it was with An American Werewolf in London and Men in Black.
I’d consider this movie a bit of a disappointment, but primarily because it starts out pretty strong. About halfway through is when Lawrence first transforms, and following his period of torture at the asylum shortly afterward, the movie goes a bit downhill, with the fight with the werewolf Anthony Hopkins being the low point.
Rating: 5/10
