The Wolfman (2010) **

Having always been a fan of the old school Universal monster films I was intrigued when I heard about a Wolfman movie. Naturally this was a cash in on the wolf phenomenon created by the Twilight films, but the concept of breathing life in one of the untouched franchises was an interesting concept. Sadly the film was no where close to what was expected. Instead of an exciting thriller, we get a dull, boring film that features Anthony Hopkins hanging around the house acting crazy.

The film stars Benicio Del Toro as Lawrence Talbot, a stage actor who returns home upon the death of his brother. Left at the Talbot estate are his brother’s fiancé Gwen (Emily Blunt) and the patriarch of the Talbot clan Sir John (Hopkins). You can guess what happens next- Larry gets bit and turns into one of those ill famed creatures of the night while being hunted by Inspector Abbeline (Hugo Weaving).

The problem with The Wolfman is that it tries to be so much more than it really should be. After looking at the running time I could have sworn it was forty minutes longer than it really was. The film drags on and on with nothing happening. Of course when something does happen it is either lukewarm at best or fails miserably to the point of being campy. The “wolf-out” effects are great, but they’re totally wasted throughout the film. I know there were problem when putting this together; a revolving door of directors, actors, and probably two dozen scripts. If these are the root problems then it shows. The Wolfman is lackluster at best, a totally forgettable film that really does nothing other than make the viewer long for the original film. This is your typical big, fat, dud.