February 12, 2010

Director: Joe Johnston

Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Benicio Del Toro

Release Date: February 12, 2010

The Monster Mash

Joe Johnston strikes again.  That’s right, the director of such classics as Jurassic Park III, The Rocketeer (okay, so I kind of like The Rocketeer), and Jumanji has brought us yet another feature film that’s laden with mediocre acting and a story that relies heavily on special effects to get the job done. Perhaps I’m being a little unfair though, as the CGI employed in The Wolfman is top-notch; there are some truly grotesque transformation sequences, and Anthony Hopkins’ dark (and grizzly) portrayal of Sir John Talbot is also great.

But let’s back up just a tad.

This is—at its core—an homage to the monster movies of decades past (that, at least, seems to be the movie’s goal).  It’s got all of the elements necessary to achieve said goal, too.  There’s a damsel in distress, a tortured hero, and plenty of angry mobs.   Unfortunately, The Wolfman also features an abundance of cheap scares, many of which anyone with a brain stem can see coming from twelve miles away.  You’ll shriek in terror when an otherworldly creature (who’s reminiscent of Gollum from the Lord of the Rings trilogy) appears at the foot of a bed—but wait!  It  was a dream.  All is well.  You can get back to your popcorn and 40 oz. Coke…Oh, crap!  Another monster has just appeared, but this time from the side of the bed!  Phew—this also turns out to be some sort of waking nightmare, so surely our protagonist has, at this point, fully awakened from his prolonged slumber.  But wait! Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.  Thus the “merry-go-round” of cliched horror movie tricks continues.

Let me also take a minute to discuss the tone of the film.  For the entirety of the first act, it’s extraordinarily dark.  To his credit, Johnston manages to create a setting that captures the essence of something like… say… Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow. The characters lurch around foggy, late 19th century English locales, and often converse using excessively moody dialogue.  Despite having created an appropriate atmosphere, the proceedings soon become somewhat of a self-parody.  The semi-barbarous pseudo-science/medicine that’s so often depicted in movies of this era shows up, and, for quite some time, you’ll likely find yourself trying to determine whether it’s all meant to be taken seriously.

Then comes the gore.  We’re talking severed limbs, flying heads, and scattered bowels.  Consider a scene where our anti-hero is trapped in a pit.  When he yanks his unsuspecting quarry into the chasm, there’s a moment of calm before an arm (the hand of which is still holding a pistol) comes flying out of said hole-in-the-ground.  The arm lands with a thud, and the gun is inadvertently fired.  It was such an awkward moment that I found myself chuckling at the realization that I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to react.  Several other theater-goers giggled too, and this confirmed my suspicion that Johsnton and company were never exactly sure what type of movie they were making.  Is it supposed to be a bloody “B-movie”?  Or is it supposed to be something more along of the lines of Bram Stoker’s Dracula?

Paradoxically it’s both, and it’s neither. The constantly shifting tone—which is even more indecipherable in the unintentionally humorous climactic battle—essentially serves as the silver bullet for a movie that never really gets off the ground.

out of 5

–Chris Flowers

Rated R for bloody horror violence and gore.

Check out a trailer for The Wolfman:

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