Wolfman: Yay or Nay?

[Creature Features]

I thought it was excellent.  The production was simply  wonderful; great use of lighting and shadows...very atmospheric and gloomy...top-notch performances all around by the actors.

Watching The Wolfman wreak havoc in downtown London was fantastic!  This was easily the most menacing, lethal beast to hit the big-screen in years, imo...

Very happy to hear Del Toro is onboard for a sequel if this movie does good.

Thank you, Universal. Well done.    

[fmofmpls]

"A pint of bitter, please."  Hugo you are THE man.

I liked that line too. In fact, it made me thirsty. I'm always ready for a good pint of bitter.

[fmofmpls]

Another small morsel that I liked in the film was when Sir John was at the piano playing a short concerto while singing as Lon was confronting him about "certain matters."  It was twisted.

[artistguy]

I wonder if Sir Lawrence...was going to eat Larry, with some fafah beans and a nice Chianti.. oh wait I think that was the man servant...

[fmofmpls]

What is it with Hopkins anyways? He has a strange delivery as an actor. It's an enigmatic bit. Disjointed, detached at times, and even a little bizarre. He played this same shtick in Coppola's Dracula too. Personally, it's not my cup of tea. It works to his advantage though, and the film's advantage, in Silence Of The Lambs.

[poseablemonster]

I just got back from seeing the film, so I can finally read the posts and comment.  I made the decision to not be involved in any discussion or read any reviews until after I actually saw the film.  I went in with no pre-conceived notions or expectations, and I am glad I did it that way.

My opinion is, as Terry said, "They finally got it right!"  This is as close to the classic monster movie as we can expect to see in this day and age from Universal.  I really enjoyed watching this movie, and in some way it has renewed my love and appreciation for the Universal Monsters.  I think Rick Baker did an excellent job at creating a modern-era film monster look while keeping a reverence for the original look of the monster.  Hugo Weaving was brilliant as always.  I was perhaps less impressed with Hopkins and Del Toro's dialogue - but I have to admit that Del Toro definitely had the look or maybe more appropriately the affect that Lon Chaney Jr. had in the original.  It's just nice to see a genuinely good monster movie again, and I am really thankful for the opportunity. 

[SirJon]

Saw it a 2nd time today and brought my fiance' who HATES monster/horror flicks! I had to seriously plead w/ her like a little kid and promise to take her to dinner afterwards to get her to go.  SHE LIKED IT!! She had a tough time admitting it but she really liked it! I didn't even need to take her to dinner! HAHA. She said she was "thoroughly entertained" which is a real test for what the general public will make of this movie and for us monster lovers will hopefully mean more classic genre monster movies.

We'll like i said in my first post I was a little let down after my first viewing and felt it didn't stay true to the original and that the plot was too different. I felt differently the 2nd time through. I went in a little more opened minded and tried not to compare it as much to the original. I liked it! I really enjoyed it more the 2nd time. It is not a cut for cut remake and its important to understand that ahead of time. More of a twist on the original ( and they really did twist the crap outta it ) but It was good!

[zombiehorror]

Saw it at 12:15 this afternoon, one thing I can say is it totally hooked me and took me on an adventure so much so that I was somewhat surprised upon exiting the theater and realizing it was still broad daylight!

What's not to like;  $5.25 for a SMALL popcorn?!?  Luckily the wife and I were being cheap and got our candy and sodas at WallyWorld.  Anybody else have to sit thru that friggin' National Guard spot!?!?  I swear it was longer than the film itself.  Also not to like, the fact that Stanley the Steamboat sat a few seats away from me, the whole first half of the film all I could hear was his breathing!!  And then him or his friend would shake something that sounded like a Kool-Aid packet every 10 minutes or so....WTF!!  I so wanted to turn into a werewolf and go all canine on their ass's but I didn't want to make a big deal and take everyone else's enjoyment away.  Oh, you want to know about the movie....

I was another "loved it", sure it was no Wolf Man from 1941 but then I didn't expect it to be.  Why would anyone want  it to be the same movie!?!  What would be the point?  The first part was quite slow but they had to establish some kind of story, this isn't a slasher flick or a Mummy adventure.  It's a period piece, a gothic monster movie.  Alot of what I've heard complaints about is acting, well maybe I'm not a good judge of acting but I personally thought the parts were played just fine.  Benecio was distant because that was what his character was supposed to be, his character had been estranged from his family for quite sometime.  Unfortunately in Hollywood there is a such thing as type casting and when you want someone to play an elderly deranged kook, Anthony Hopkins is one of your best choices because he plays it well.  Though after seeing him do it in a few films it's power suffers greatly.

Sorry but I really can't review without delving into a few spoilers. So if you haven't seen it skip to the spoiler end!!


SPOILER
Has anyone else here been bitten by a feral boy only to return home, turn into a wolfman, slaughter your wife, only to have your young son witness it??  Then you have to commit that son in order to get the memory out of his head and have your servant lock you away during every full moon for 25 years so you don't kill again.  Talk about a conflict of emotion.  It's no wonder Sir John is so aloof and, quite frankly, bat-sh*t crazy.

Next up alot of complaining about the relationship between Gwen and Lawrence; Why she fell in love with him?  Or how did they fall in love?  It could just be the travesty of it all.  Or maybe it's his enhanced pheromones that lured her in?  I don't really see where it needed all that much of an explanation; Did you come to see a love story or a horror movie?

And here again some of what people may be considering a part not acted well could have alot to do with the situation that Emily's character was in...maybe she (the character) wasn't even sure of why she was falling in love with Lawrence.

To many reviews have focused on the bear and stag being CGI.  That in my opinion is just nitpicking and I didn't see the big fuss.  It's not like they were a huge focus of the film they were barely on screen and in my opinion where actually done quite well.  And I hate when CGI is unnecessarily used.

Come on who didn't love that fight at the end?  Seriously?  Come on.  Come on.  You can admit it.  We're all friends here.  Yeah I knew you did!!  Only problem was it left me wanting more.  When Sir John went in that fire I was just hoping for a flaming werewolf battle.....but oh well.

The transformation into Talbot at the end, talk about a nod to the original.  Again CGI'd but very simple dissolve of the wolf's hair back into the Lawrence's skin.  Only problem I had with that was you didn't get him facing the camera, other than that it was a great homage.

SPOILER END

I don't know where anyone is getting that the transformations were a combo of practical/CGI, it all looked CGI to me.  Though I could be wrong.  Either way it didn't take me out of the enjoyment of the film and for the most part it was done quite subtly and in quick shots.

I did see alot of "Curse" in the Wolfman but the design seems to be a hybrid of Jack Pierce and Roy Ashton's and looks friggin' awesome.  Of course it was no big reveal since images and the toy have been out for awile.  Rick did an excellent job at retaining that classic Wolfman while adding his (& Benecio's) own style/ideas.  Again I had no problem with any of the CGI'd longer shots of the Wolfman in action, they all worked quite well in my opinion.  The beast moved as you'd expect a huge hulking carnivore to move.  The duplicity of his run was cool and something I don't really remember being done before, usually the two styles aren't combined.  If I'm wronged about that I'm sure someone here will let me know .

The sets again felt very "Hammerish" but that ain't so bad is it?  The last film that reminded me this much of a classic Hammer film was Sleepy Hollow.  The atmosphere was excellent; lots of night scenes, foggy moors, shadowy interiors and more candles than you see in a Catholic church.

The music never bothered me or felt out of place, so much so that I didn't even notice the score for the most part.

The gore as others have said was there in abundance but never focused on or used for shock value.  With all respect to the classics, this is so what a werewolf should be doing to his prey.  Vicious, wild, ferocious just a killing machine.  Beautiful.  I don't know maybe I'm just desensitized to it but I really can't see where anyone would find it as to much or over the top, especially with the given subject.

I think alot of people (especially here) who didn't like it, will enjoy it much more upon 2nd viewing.  I can't wait for the dvd release; behind the scenes, extra footage~

Can I just say that if I hadn't already worn the hell out of my UMA shirt I would gladly donate it to Rick, I believe he definitely earned his UMA colors!  That goes for Benecio as well!!

[Moonshadow]

My husband and I  saw 'The Wolfman' this afternoon and had very different opinions, which didn't surprise me. I enjoyed it; I didn't think it was great, but over all, I was entertained. I felt it dragged in some places. Loved all the scenes with the Wolfman; he looks perfect, and I especially like this bulkier look. The attack in the gypsy camp was well-done. I thought Del Toro was nice, understated, but captured the anguish. My better half was bored with the film; only really enjoyed it when Wolfy was on-screen. He thought Del Toro was terrible with no range. So there you go.

One thing that bothered me was I had already figured out the surprise at the end just from watching the trailers. Although I still enjoyed it, it would have had more impact if I hadn't been so certain that it was going to happen.

[hammerfan]

Just saw it. Good, not  great. More like Hammer (which is cool) than Universal. THe CGI looked phoney in a lot of scenes especially when the Wolfman was running on all fours. Sort of looked like video game animation. Transformation was ok.  Liked Hopkins in the last scene.  Thought hugo weaving was kind of wasted. Nice Rick baker cameo.  Loved elfman's score. certainly worth a look.

[artistguy]

Hammer fan, I also thought it had a Hammer look to it as well.

[Gasport]

Just got back from a late showing....My wife, 16 year old son and myself all enjoyed it very much. My son wished there were more Wolfman scenes, which is only natural. I reminded him that occasionally they have to interrupt the action stuff to let you know that there IS a story to go along with all that. I really liked the plots twists that made it differ from the original film. I don't think anyone wanted to see a scene by scene remake of The Wolf Man. I thought Benecio did a fine job and reflected a lot of Lon Jr into the role. The asylum scenes were stand-out!  Hopkins was also terrific in providing a psychotic edge never dreamed of in the first film. It certainly isn't an instant classic, by any means which doesn't bother me any...Still a very enjoyable high quality horror flick chock full of  old school classic atmosphere that hopefully will do well enough at the box office to spur a sequel that [dare i hope?] will bring some of our other favorite Uni Monsters out of retirement.  I say GO SEE IT!

[Universal Steve]

My feelings exactly. I went into this movie with one expectation - to be better than Van Helsing and the insipid Mummy sequels.

It was that. At least Universal had the good sense to keep Stephen Somers out of the picture. He thinks he knows classic movies but it shows he does not. I haven't seen it but I have heard nothing but bad things about G.I. Joe which was supposed to be a summer blockbuster but instead was a fast fizzler because of his directing. The Wolfman would have been a worse movie if he was involved. History will back me up on this.

[Creature Features]

I liked that line too. In fact, it made me thirsty. I'm always ready for a good pint of bitter.

What IS  that, exactly? Some type of beer?

[depressedlarrytalbot]

What IS  that, exactly? Some type of beer?

As John Hannah put it THE MUMMY:

"A-mericans!"   


Now excuse me, I'm off for a Vic Bitter ....