After hearing his brother has gone missing, Victorian actor Lawrence Talbot (Benicio Del Toro) returns to his familys stately pile, only to be told by his father (Anthony Hopkins) that his siblings body has been found ripped to bits by some sort of creature. Lawrence vows to find out what happened, which ends up with him getting attacked, but not killed, by the animal.
Although the gypsies murmur that people will die because Lawrence lived and the locals want to kill him because his wounds have healed unnaturally, Lawrence isnt prepared for what happens at the next full moon which sees him turns into an animal thats half man and half wolf. This creature is insatiably violent and cannot be controlled, running amok and killing, which leads the man who tracked Jack the Ripper, Inspector Abberline (Hugo Weaving), as well as his Lawrences brothers fiancé (Emily Blunt), to try to find out whats going on.
For quite a while now, Universal has been looking at ways to relaunch its classic monsters on the big screen, and while Van Helsing was a bit of a miss-step, they had high hopes for The Wolfman. However these were rather dashed when it only grossed $139 million around the world, despite costing $150 million to make. In many ways thats a bit of a shame as its no worse than a lot of the other blockbuster type movies that populate the multiplexes and make a lot of cash although that doesnt mean its good.
Its a film that just sort of happens, hinting at interesting ideas and things that could have been pretty cool, while never really fully engaging with them instead just skipping along on the top, keeping your eyeballs lightly entertained while your brain is left to its own devices. The main issue seems to be that they never fully worked out the story properly (or lost it in the reshoots and editing problems the movie is said to have had), instead taking bits and pieces from all over the place without ever pulling them together. There are the prerequisite superstitious villagers ready to form a mob, gypsies who know about beastly magic, a token love interest (Emily Blunt) and various other things that seem to hang around the edges, without ever really feeling central to the movie.
That leaves Del Toro and Hopkins as the heart of the film. Benicio is very good, but the script never really allows him to get to the root of his character, with the film instead looking for ways not to have him deal emotionally with the fact hes now turning into a wolf every month. Admittedly its a tough problem that your hero is also the villain, and its nice that they dont try and make The Wolfman nobler as a beast he is an animalistic killing machine and uncontrollable but its something the movie never fully comes to grips with. Indeed its one of the most interesting things about the alternate endings included on the disc, as they try to deal with the characters wolfish side in different ways. You can understand why they chose the ending they did, but the others would have been more interesting, if a little bleak and underdeveloped.
Anthony Hopkins meanwhile Ive pretty much given up on. He stopped acting about ten years ago and now just turns up to say lines. Ive seen others describe his Wolfman performance as creepily unexpected and sinister in a low key way, but the fact is, he comes across as if hes only just seen the script and hasnt really bothered to find out what his character is supposed to be doing in the film, instead relying on his Hannibal Lecter reputation to pull him through.
The Wolman isnt a great movie and its a little disappointing compared to what it hints it could have been, but its kinda fun in a hokey way. Its also rare nowadays for a big budget monster movie to be this violent, as theyre normally toned down to get a PG-13 rating in the US. Here we even get an extended cut, which features even more blood and guts, and the blood certainly flows.
The one aspect of the film that certainly works is its look, as its a visually gorgeous movie. The film drips in gothic menace that the Blu-ray shows off to its fullest, with inky blacks and deep recesses of forbidding shadow. The foggy woods, crumbling mansions and gaslit Victorian nights are beautifully created in a slightly stylised but very effective way. If only the story had the same attention paid to it as the images, The Wolfman would be great.
Likewise the audio on the disc is very effective, with a few surround sound moments that really make you jump. Its a very effective, immersive mix.
The special features are pretty good as well. Theres the aforementioned alternate endings, as well as some deleted and extended scenes. These are slightly intriguing as they include longer versions of both the London chase and first transformation, both of which seem odd candidates to be cut down. On top of this are some okay featurettes, but things get really interesting with the Blu-ray exclusive features, most notably the U-Control extras, which play the movie with picture-in-picture looks at legend, folklore, the history of Universal monster movies and more. Finally, if youre interested in the movie that this is technically a remake of, the Blu-ray includes the complete 1941 Wolfman movie starring Lon Chaney Jr. Its an interesting inclusion, as while its a silly and incredibly hokey film, it has the heart that the new version lacks.
Overall Verdict: The Wolfman looks superb and is passably entertaining, but the story never really gets to the heart of the beast. The Blu-ray looks gorgeous and has good special features though.
Special Features:
Unrated and Theatrical Cuts
Deleted and Extended Scenes
The Return Of The Wolfman Featurette
The Beastmaker Featurette
The Wolfman Unleashed Featurette
Transformation Secrets Featurette
U-Control Picture In Picture Version
The Wolfman 1941 Film
BD-Live
Reviewer: Tim Isaac