I was actually going to review this film last week but was unfortunately unable to do so. Things happened and I found myself without the time so I decided to go to my collection to see if I could maybe salvage something. I was stunned to find my still unopened copy of “Wolfman” wedged in my DVD shelf. I remembered my friends telling me how good it was. They even did that annoying thing were they assume you will like a film based on vague recollections of films you might have mentioned earlier that you enjoyed. I mean yes I am a huge Benico Del Toro fan but that does not mean I like everything he is in. Though I loved him as the psychotic, drug-addled Dr. Gonzo I still fucking hated Sin City. This brings me back to Wolfman, a movie you should avoid at all costs this Halloween .
The film starts off with a frightened man running through the woods. Already I am stunned at the originality; I mean having a werewolf movie start with some terrified jackass doing the high speed panic-stumble through foggy, primordial woods is as groundbreaking as having credits at the end of your movie. And then, big surprise, he is viciously clawed to death off camera by a werewolf. It turns out that was the main character’s brother but this twist goes nowhere and only serves as useless exposition made to stretch out the film for time. We find out that the main character has not been home in many years and is a famous stage actor. The father, played very well by Anthony Hopkins, is happy to see him again. He was the one character that I honestly wanted more of, I swear Anthony Hopkins can make any movie he is in at least watchable. Hopkins is good in everything he does and playing the old, gun-toting hermit was perfect for him and the scenes with him in them were among the few that were not mind-numbingly dull. I mean even Hannibal was ok despite its actress change and silly plot. After the funeral, Benico’s character decides to stay in the village and help find his brother’s killer, because as we all know actors make great detectives, or something like that. The movie is nothing more than you standard horror. The acting is forced and badly done; the dialogue is mostly expletive, tedious, and as exciting as doing your taxes. This film had only two things going for it; Anthony Hopkins and extreme amounts of violence. The violence in this film pulls no punches and realistically depicts with graphic detail would happen if one were to find themselves being ripped apart. It’s use of practical effects over digital effects for the gore scenes was a welcoming change as well, especially in light of several horror franchises gross overuse of them (looking at you Nightmare on Elm Street). On the down side the werewolf’s themselves looked silly. I understand what they were trying to do by making him look more like the classic Wolfman. Only problem is that classic Wolfman looked like some gorilla-wolf hybrid abomination that made me laugh everytime he slowed down enough to be seen.
Seriously, it takes this movie forever to even get moving and once it does you wish it hadn’t because it goes in the same direction every other werewolf film does. The action on the other hand was quite good; I was surprised this was made by universal studios. Overall I would say this was a mediocre film with a predictable ending and bad acting. In retrospect it thinks I should have went to see Shutter Island.
No comments:
Post a Comment