Monday, October 4, 2010

The Wolfman






If The Wolfman isn't a letdown, I don't know what is. Directed by Joe Johnston, this promising film has an all-star cast, including Anthony Hopkins, Hugo Weaving, Emily Blunt and Benicio del Toro as the titled character. Of course on top of that, the film has the classic story to back it up as well. So what went wrong? Well, lots of things. The film has a notorious history of having several last-minute changes, including in direction, composition, writing, and screen-time. Unfortunately, things didn't turn out for the best. The opening scene is the best foreshadowing for exactly how to expect the rest of the film to go. A scared man, nervously holding a lantern in the middle of the woods (at nighttime!) is running from something spooky, and we soon realize it is a werewolf, who eats his face. He howls. Enter opening credits. If one word should be used to describe this film, it is predictable, and this is where the movie falls short of entertaining me. However, I gave this scene the benefit of a doubt for being an intentionally campy movie, which I have a weakness for, but my hope was in vain.