“Who hails the moon cometh change and renew for tonight we will howl in the darkness!”
Universal Pictures in association with Relativity Media and Stuber Productions present…
What truly makes a man a monster? His self-disposition for power and wealth! Humans as we are, we have tendencies to be destructive and be more inhumane than animals, we are given an option to who we are destined to be, to be sealed by our fate or be free and be one with destiny!
The Man…
Remarkable performances by Anthony Hopkins (Hannibal) who played Sir John Talbot, an elitist who hides darker secrets that even the moon sways its light upon its malevolent schemes and one of the finest actors of our time Benicio Del Toro (24 Grams) as Sir Lawrence Talbot, a troubled son, a brother who is still tormented by past nightmares. They were able to provide the needed suspense and grit that makes the Wolfman feared, hated as well as misunderstood and revered for his courage to take the responsibility of this curse!
The CGI was not perfect but it did make of good use for the monster’s movements, fast paced action and thus resulting a killing spree that is more breathtaking to watch. Some great moments in the Gypsy encampment massacre, The London hunt and the climactic slugfest.
As always, Danny Elfman provides the appropriate piece to ensue audience captivity for his music. The score was melancholic, pretence for horror are being set for the audience to encompass the film’s gothic centerpiece. Even if it was not finalized, I still consider it very truthful to the theme of the film, it even resembled a bit from Bram Stoker’s Dracula!
To add, who can forget the multi-awarded special effects artist Rick Baker who brought life to such films as King Kong, Men in Black, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, An American Werewolf in London and much more!
I also loved how the gore and power of the werewolf was manifested every time he gets loose! My favorite was when he was examined in the asylum by Dr. Hoenneger with fellow Doctors and officials as audience. Lawrence bellowed at him: “You Moron! tonight I will kill all of you, I WILL KILL ALL OF YOU!!! with greater emphasis while transforming, it was a riot!
The Monster…
The story was standstill, a film with great potential and it was lack lustred due to poor suspense, horrific tendencies that may have been the key to bring forth a better redux to this classic monster film!
The Wolfman was based from the same title shown in 1941. It has the same plot and screenplay, though it still gives that eerie, horrifying feeling, it was quite boring and dragging, considerable minutes were wasted just to see Lawrence journey back home to Blackmoor after his rampage in London.
Another concern was the score made originally by Danny Elfman, haggled by time another composer was brought in to provide more energy to the film, Paul Haslinger, Conrad Pope did some more materials just to meet the demands of Director Joe Johnston and the studio!
Emily Blunt (The Devil Wears Prada) as the fiancée of Ben Talbot Gwen and Hugo Weaving (V for Vendetta) the determined Inspector Francis Aberline was mediocre in my opinion, both are great in their own right, but in this film they have been held back or was not given enough sustainability of the character they portrayed. The woman was torn between brothers, she was without any intensity or passion who might as well be dead from the start and the hunter who was just settling old scores, defined by his judgement not really giving emphasis on understanding what the monster is or capable of.
The Curse…
It has been always observed to make things better, we must learn through experience, the film was good but it failed most of the viewers’ expectations. Actors plays a primordial role to deliver but it has not been always the root cause of a film’s failure or success, The Director, Producers, Studio capacity, music and special effects converge to provide the needed details to make film’s worth watching.
I would like to commend the film also because there are tons of Vampire movies out there, even TV series for that matter, but very little do consider this icon as a potential hit with the right script and talent, a lucrative source of lore, grand storytelling for generations to come!
The Wolfman does indeed have its curse, it was not perfect but was entertaining nevertheless! As a statement, a poem was uttered before and at the end the film…so I made mine as well!
THE SUBLIMINAL HERALD 