O Lobisomem

I'm surprised by the low ratings The Wolfman gets. Surprised yes and no because I've giving up since a long time deciding whether or not I should watch a movie based solely on the ratings. Too much people rate mediocre movies with the highest score possible whilst perfectly good entertaining movies are being bashed. The Wolfman is entertaining, certainly in the lycanthrope genre, a genre that had multiple bad movies in the past, but this one is one for the "good werewolf movies list". The cast is full of excellent actors like Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt and others. The cinematography was what I liked the most about this movie, a nice dark tone of imaging added something special to the ambiance. It's not a wonder it won an Oscar for make-up as that was also one of the better things about The Wolfman. The story could have been better, I won't deny that, but all the rest made up for it. The Wolfman is underrated certainly in this genre.

Every once in a while, a movie comes along with what many people would call perfect casting. I remember when Jack Nicholson was first cast as the Joker for Tim Burton's Batman. Nicholson's portrayal was just what was expected from such a great actor in a signature role. But it was NO MORE than we expected from him. In a way, one could say it fell a little flat. Well, I feel that way about The Wolfman. First, Anthony Hopkins, one of the consistently best actors out there, gave the exact performance I would expect from him, commanding respect both as an actor and as the character he played. But it was nothing we haven't seen already. Reminiscent of Meet Joe Black or Fracture or Instinct. I'm also a fan of Benicio Del Toro, but his brooding and emotional performance was exactly what I went to the theater to see. I didn't see anything more. The same could be said for the script, a very straightforward storyline that was a bit predictable and sort of tired. On one hand, I commend the film makers for not overdoing the story with convoluted twists in an effort to be "original." But again, I wasn't surprised by anything in the storyline at all.

I was anxious to see this film, and overall I was very pleased with the cinematography, the performances of the cast and of course the special effects. But I did not leave the theater saying "WOW, that was even better than I expected!" like I had hoped I would.

I watched the Unrated Director's Cut and I can say that it is pretty bloody (which is a good thing). There are some questionable CGI moments, but I am glad that they also used practical effects for the makeup and kept him close to the original Wolfman's looks and not just some crazy wolf creature. Better than I expected, but I am a sucker for werewolf stories.

One of the most heavily criticized types of films is the remake. The most common criticism is that there is no reason to remake something that already exists and can still be accessed. While this is heavily lobbied at the live-action Disney films of today, the complaint has been around for a long time. And while I imagine that fans of the original Wolfman film from the classic horror films look down on this movie, I have to say that it delivers a satisfying package.

One thing to note about the remake is the inclusion of more bloody kills. While I haven't seen the original Wolfman, I imagine that the film practices of the day had tame kills in the same vein as Frankenstein and Dracula. But here, and especially in the unrated cut which I watched, the mostly practical effects make for some great gore, even if most of it is caused by simple slashes to the body and neck. There are some noticeable moments of CGI blood spurts and transformation sequences, but that doesn't stop the rest of the action from being pretty good.

The cast also does a great job, which is to be expected from so many big names: Benicio del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt, and Hugo Weaving all give great performances, as well as the more minor characters. In addtion, the set designs and costumes are amazing as well. The manor in particular has a great, creepy design.

One thing I did find very lacking is the character of Gwen. While Blunt is an amazing actress and her performance is still good, she doesn't do much in the film besides be the love interest. It's a shame, because the setup in the beginning of her husband being one of the Wolfman's victims would make for a cool Van Helsing-style character driven by revenge to parallel Weaving's more lawful take on the character. In addition, her inclusion in the final act greatly added to that unwanted romance element. But if you can look past that fairly sizable flaw, I see no reason to look down on this movie. It's a fun watch, and I don't see why its score is just 5.8.

This movie has it all. Great actors, great music, a great setting and mood, great CGI and special effects, just great everything. And on top of that, you got a werewolf running around. I would also heavily recommend watching the unrated directors cut of this movie, it goes much deeper into the story and clears up some of the confusion in the theatrical version and also adds some more action packed violence in the middle of the film. I was a skeptic before watching this movie because of some of the reviews but to me this movie deserves much more attention than it got. For me, it's a must watch and I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for a great way to spend some time on a full moon lit night.