The Wolfman

(2010)

Dir: Joe Johnston

It’s almost impossible to get people to agree on what exactly a werewolf should look like. It’s not supposed to look like a wolf, it’s not supposed to look like a man, and it certainly isn’t supposed to look like a baboon. Joe Johnston’s remake of the 1941 horror classic of the same name struggles with these same issues.

His name is in the title. We pay to see The Wolfman, and we want to be damn impressed when we do. Sadly, Benicio Del Toro’s wolf is hit and miss, despite having the creative makeup genius of Rick Baker. It isn’t a dog’s dinner in the same vain as Van Helsing, but it just isn’t quite ferocious or canine enough to satisfy.

That doesn’t mean that Johnston’s flick isn’t entertaining. It certainly is. The body count is right up in the Rambo Part II camp, with Del Toro’s lycanthropic actor Lawrence Talbot cutting a bloody swathe across Blackmoor and London. The blood and guts on display fully earns The Wolfman its ‘15’ certificate, although none of the violence is particularly terrifying or gruesome, but rather tinged with gloomy comedy. The majority of the victims are portrayed as either pompous academics or superstitious fools.

Del Toro does a good job filling Lou Chaney, Jr.’s furry shoes. In fact the whole cast deserves merit. Anthony Hopkins and Hugo Weaving are especially engrossing as Sir John Talbot and Inspector Aberline respectively, bringing some old school acting gravitas to this traditional Gothic yarn. Weaving’s interaction with a superstitious local barmaid in a Blackmoor inn is a particular delight.

It could have been better. But then we are comparing all subsequent werewolf films to John Landis’ unbeatable An American Werewolf in London, so that’s to be expected. Johnston’s picture still has plenty to, uh, sink your teeth into? Sorry. I couldn’t resist.

** ¾ / *****

“Nothing to howl about.”