The Wolfman Bum

There are certain times that you get to watch a movie that completely draws you in. You care so deeply for the characters that you can literally feel for them, and there plight, whatever it may be. The Wolfman was not one of those movies. Actually, I almost fell asleep at least four times.

It seemed like this was a character Benecio Del Toro was born to play. It’s too bad that the script just couldn’t stand up. This was a huge opportunity for him to carry a big budget film, and put himself on the leading man list that has eluded him for years. Del Toro has had a few good roles over the years, like the title character in Che’, Jackie Boy in Sin City, and Dr. Gonzo in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, but still nothing holds a candle to his breakout role as Fenster in The Usual Suspects. His next chance comes in the form of a stooge, as Moe Howard in The Three Stooges movie coming out in 2011. It’s going to be a Farrelly Brothers movie, and Sean Penn is already cast as Larry. No word on Curly yet, but the rumors are that it will be Jim Carrey.

Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt, and Hugo Weaving are part of the supporting cast, but with a script this mundane, there wasn’t much they could do.

The Wolfman is supposed to be a tortured soul that we are supposed to have empathy for. I had none. The brutality that he exhibited on screen made me start rooting for the villagers, and the story gave me no reason at all to care about Benecio’s character. All it showed was that a werewolf has no problem literally ripping a person apart. Complete viciousness became the main focal point of the whole thing. It got to a point where I was hoping that Hugo Weaving’s Scotland Yard detective would silver bullet his ass already, so the movie would be over. Don’t get me wrong, I love some good old blood and guts in a movie, but if the story doesn’t have a good foundation then it’s still a crappy movie. On a positive note, the effects were pretty cool, but I would never expect anything less from a Hollywood legend like Rick Baker.

I wanted to like it, I really did, but the mysteries were predictable, and the final battle scene was nothing if not anti-climactic. I always thought that the secret to a great movie is how the audience identifies with the film characters. If you don’t care about them, then you don’t care about what’s going to happen to them, so why would you want to watch them for two hours.

If you want to see a good werewolf movie go rent An American Werewolf in London, Teen Wolf, The Howling, or even The Wolf Man, with the originator Lon Chaney. I would even say go rent Abbot and Costello meet Frankenstein to enjoy some more of Lon Chaney’s work.

The Wolfman was a huge disappointment at the box office (cost $150 mil / box office take $62 mil.) and it will continue to be one in your living room. Sorry folks, if you want to be bored for two hours, and see violence for no good reason then by all means watch it. On the other had if you want to see brutality for a great reason, and a lot of fun skip The Wolfman, and get any Rob Zombie movie.