Film Reviews: The Wolfman

Today we take a look at the remake of the 1941 classic, The Wolfman Starring Benicio Del Toro in the title role. If you are into dark classical films this movie is definitely for you (Oh and did I mention werewolves galore?)
Directed by: Joe Johnston
Produced by: Benicio Del Toro, Scott Stuber, Rick Yorn, Sean Daniel
Written by: Andrew Kevin Walker, David Self, Curt Siodmak (original screenplay)
Stars: Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt, Hugo Weaving, Geraldine Chaplin
Music by: Danny Elfman
Studio: Relativity Media
Distributed by: Universal Studios
Release date(s): February 12, 2010
Running time: 112 mins
Point system:
Up to ten points for each category.

Story: [10 points]
Remakes are tricky business. I say tricky because if a remake deviates too far from the original, you can’t really consider it a remake. However if a remake stays too true to the original film, then it’s little more than a copy. Sadly I cannot base how true or not true it stays to the original since I’ve not seen it, so we will focus on the story which in my opinion was excellent. It did a fantastic job of introducing all the main characters and the plot of the movie stayed on point. Like most horror movies, it didn’t take moving into the film’s final 15 minutes of the movie to reveal what plot devices it had and for you to actually see the beast. So it gets a full ten points.



Acting: [10 points]
The acting was superb. Benicio del Toro’s (Traffic, 21 Grams) portrayal of the title character Lawrence Talbot is dark, mysterious, and at times frightening. Now if you’ve read any of my other articles you’ll see that I talk a lot about the importance of acting jobs in films, over all the acting in this film was spot on. The characters interacted with each other naturally which made the view interact the characters and not the actors. Some actors and films have a serious problem with the interaction between characters which leads to the lines being spoken at each other as oppose to being spoken to each other. The Wolfman pulls in a perfect ten for acting.

Gore and scare factor: [10 points]
If you have a weak stomach, do avoid this movie. We’re talking tons of blood, tons of guts, tons of gore! In terms of whether it was scary, I would lean more towards it was freaky. You know, the kind stuff that makes you go “ewww….”, and with that said, it garners ten points.

Dramatic Effect/level of action: [10 points]
Normally a movie only gets either the scare factor/gore category or this category but for The Wolfman, we’ll make an exception and add it due to the films intense dramatic elements. The only gripe about the film’s dramatic elements was the fact that sometimes the score didn’t fit some of the scenes in the movie, such as a conversation. The music sometimes was a wee bit too fast and/or suspenseful. But other than that tiny blip, the level of drama in the film was very intense but not so intense that it becomes boring or too much. The interactions between del Toro, Blunt, and Hopkins’ characters are what give the film its dramatic emotion mostly. For that, it receives a ten.

Film Score: [10 points]
Now, again if you have read the other reviews you’ll see that I am keen on the score of a film. There are movies where the score at times will deviate from the emotion of a particular scene, be nonexistent where it should be, or the score of the entire movie is wrong in general. The music is what gives a movie its emotion; it’s what depicts the emotion between two people in a movie. The Wolfman’s score was not only a great score, it also fit the tone of the film and aside from some parts being too suspenseful in some areas, over all the film gets a ten for movie score.

Overall movie enjoyment: [10 points]
I enjoyed watching this movie from start to finish. However it’s the type of movie where the viewer needs to be a fan of lycanthrope lore and themed movies for it to truly be appreciated. If you are into those two things, oh and into lots of gore and blood, then this movie is definitely for you.

Final score: 60 out of a maximum of 60 points (this movie is full of win!)