All Bark and No Bite

Movies inspired by legendary source material such as literature or older films always have the leg up on the competition as far as mainstream appeal is concerned. It’s only natural for people to want to go see how the new incarnation stacks up with the work of the past. Because of that, films like “The Wolfman” will always appear in theaters and find a way to draw in revenue.

That doesn’t mean that this film is worth seeing however.

Just like the curse that ruins the life of Lawrence Talbot [Benicio Del Toro], this film leaves you howling like an animal in disgust after you exit the theater. In spite of creepy sound effects, excellent cinematography and special effects and overall good performances by Anthony Hopkins and Emily Blunt, The Wolfman’s plot is the opposite, turning what could have been this decade’s answer to “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” into something along the lines of another “Van Helsing.”

After about 30 minutes of this flick, if you’ve followed along close enough, you know exactly what’s going to happen as far as the main plot line. It doesn’t matter if Hopkins and Blunt are on their A-games and if Hugo Weaving is solid in a supporting role either- things are pretty obvious and flat after a nice start. After that initial glimmer has faded and the originally captivating shots of the moon and brilliant dialogue of Hopkins has run its course, you’re left with a predictable thriller that can’t be saved, regardless of the amount of blood and well-done special effects it has sprinkled throughout.

Del Toro, while convincing and somewhat menacing at times, gets worse as the film goes on, with several lines that border on the Hayden Christensen level of Velveeta. As the star of this thing, Del Toro needed more than what he gave on-screen and is one of the big reasons why the film merely growls, rather than bites. He’s not exactly horrible here, but he’s far from captivating. The same thing goes for the script, which originally is eery and dark, before heading down the cookie cutter isle in search for extra ingredients to finish up, slowly, but surely playing its part in nearly ruining every actors’ performance.

Even though the ambiance created by the lighting and special effects will keep you in your seat, it gets to the point where they too, miss the mark. Sudden and rushed, the last act of “The Wolf Man” is a bore and regardless of your affinity for monster tales, you may find yourself drooling from the mouth like a rabid dog, angrily waiting for something to happen.

Once it does though, you won’t be satisfied and may look to take your frustration out on the person in the next seat.

Producing a fighting scene that lacks the type of brutality that you would expect from a film such as this and the ending in general is lackluster and poorly executed, “The Wolfman” needed to be put to sleep much sooner. Even worse, the questions that remain are easily answered and again, lack the type of shock and awe you’d expect from a horror/thriller, making for something mediocre and derivative when it’s all said and done.

Special effects and blood don’t make up for a lackluster plot and “The Wolfman” ultimately proves that. Having the look and feel of a monster flick, just without the smarts and intrigue to back it up, it’s a passable offering that will cater to those who insist on going to cinema, rather than those who expect more than a few shrills and shrieks for their hard-earned money.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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