Remakes, especially of horror films, generally tend to fall into three categories: 1)Crap. 2)Improvement. 3)Ones which improve on some things, but aren't so effective at others. This film is a textbook example of #3; it manages to come up with a remarkably clever twist on the original's plot which ties together a lot of disparate elements of the original and fleshes out character back-story. But it also fails at capturing the magic of the original's themes, or comes up with great new ideas, but does little with them. For example, here we are given a plausible back-story for Larry Talbot(Benicio Del Toro, who looks like a cross between Lon Chaney Jr & Oliver Reed)'s estrangement from his father, Sir John(something only vaguely explained in the original), a traumatic event in his childhood which builds up sympathy for him, and a plausible reason for why everyone dislikes and suspects him(he was once committed to an asylum in his youth). But the pathos Lon Chaney Jr built up in the original was based off of how no one believed him and thought he was insane; here, he gets caught after his first night out! A major theme in the original, subtly handled(not often you can say subtle discussing a Universal horror film)was how Sir John was inadvertently the film's real villain for his terrible parenting; here, Sir John flat out IS the villain!!! Another example of this problem comes from this version's handling of Larry's romance with Gwen(Emily Blunt); it comes up with a plausible reason for why she falls in love with him so swiftly(she was engaged to his deceased brother, who he reminds her of), but their romance doesn't come into play until late into the film, so no one really cares by that point.
These aren't the film's only flaws either; Benicio Del Toro is a fine actor, and he manages to capture Larry's suffering and lifetime of hardships, but he doesn't get to do anything else before he's bitten and becomes a werewolf. In the original, we got to know and like Larry, who was a horny, fun loving, not-too-bright, but likable fish-out-of-water. It was what made his fate all the more tragic. While I'm not saying that Del Toro is not as good an actor as Chaney Jr(Jr never could compete with his famous father in the acting department), he doesn't get a chance to make us get to know or give a crap about Larry other than: 'His life sucks, he's depressed'. Like I said, this isn't a slam against Del Toro, but he doesn't get a chance to turn in a really good performance. His dialog delivery also sucks; he's one of those actors who can emote excellently, but always flubs his lines. The film is also too fast-paced at times; this is literally a "blink and you'll miss it" sort of film.
Inspite of these flaws, the film still works as an out and out monster bash. For anyone who grew up as a "Monster Kid" in the 60's and 70's who made up their own monster scenarios in their head; this is everything they ever liked about Universal, Hammer(yes I know they made only one werewolf film) and Paul Naschy's werewolf films rolled into one. I can safely say that in terms of action, monster-design, atmosphere and gore, this is the best werewolf movie ever made: It's what you wanted, but never got. And best of all, the werewolf isn't some lame CGI effect that looks like a walking dog(like the crappy 'werewolves' of "Underworld" etc.), it's an actual guy in makeup(the transformations are CGI though, but that I can forgive). That alone makes this film praise-worthy. I always find it more satisfying to actually have something in front of the camera. The high-point of the werewolf scenes is when Talbot transforms in front of a bunch of Nazi-like psychiatrists and slaughters them before going out and wrecking London(yes, this version is in London, not Wales).
The atmosphere is great. The cinematography is the best I've seen in a modern film. It's like Mario Bava, Freddie Francis and Terrence Fisher(horror's greatest visually-oriented directors) all came back from the dead and collaborated on this. Every scene is like a painting. I'm definitely buying one of those "Art of" books for this movie.
The murder sequences are also awesome. My favorite is when a guy gets stuck in a bog while fleeing from the Wolf Man; He tries to kill himself, but his gun is jammed, so the Wolf Man decapitates him in one swipe. That alone is worth seeing the film for.
The acting is also good, Hugo Weaving is great as hypocritical police inspector Aberline(former foe of Jack the Ripper), this guy is one of those lawman antagonists you love to hate. Anthony Hopkins(as Sir John), as usual, steals the show. Whoever it was playing Maleva the gypsy was good too, I just wish she was given more screen-time, Maleva was my favorite character in the original.
Not great art, and certainly flawed, but a fun thrill ride for lovers of classic horror. I just wish that Paul Naschy(aka. Jacinto Molina), who starred in many werewolf films in his native Spain, had lived to see it(he died last year). I dedicate this review to him.~
These aren't the film's only flaws either; Benicio Del Toro is a fine actor, and he manages to capture Larry's suffering and lifetime of hardships, but he doesn't get to do anything else before he's bitten and becomes a werewolf. In the original, we got to know and like Larry, who was a horny, fun loving, not-too-bright, but likable fish-out-of-water. It was what made his fate all the more tragic. While I'm not saying that Del Toro is not as good an actor as Chaney Jr(Jr never could compete with his famous father in the acting department), he doesn't get a chance to make us get to know or give a crap about Larry other than: 'His life sucks, he's depressed'. Like I said, this isn't a slam against Del Toro, but he doesn't get a chance to turn in a really good performance. His dialog delivery also sucks; he's one of those actors who can emote excellently, but always flubs his lines. The film is also too fast-paced at times; this is literally a "blink and you'll miss it" sort of film.
Inspite of these flaws, the film still works as an out and out monster bash. For anyone who grew up as a "Monster Kid" in the 60's and 70's who made up their own monster scenarios in their head; this is everything they ever liked about Universal, Hammer(yes I know they made only one werewolf film) and Paul Naschy's werewolf films rolled into one. I can safely say that in terms of action, monster-design, atmosphere and gore, this is the best werewolf movie ever made: It's what you wanted, but never got. And best of all, the werewolf isn't some lame CGI effect that looks like a walking dog(like the crappy 'werewolves' of "Underworld" etc.), it's an actual guy in makeup(the transformations are CGI though, but that I can forgive). That alone makes this film praise-worthy. I always find it more satisfying to actually have something in front of the camera. The high-point of the werewolf scenes is when Talbot transforms in front of a bunch of Nazi-like psychiatrists and slaughters them before going out and wrecking London(yes, this version is in London, not Wales).
The atmosphere is great. The cinematography is the best I've seen in a modern film. It's like Mario Bava, Freddie Francis and Terrence Fisher(horror's greatest visually-oriented directors) all came back from the dead and collaborated on this. Every scene is like a painting. I'm definitely buying one of those "Art of" books for this movie.
The murder sequences are also awesome. My favorite is when a guy gets stuck in a bog while fleeing from the Wolf Man; He tries to kill himself, but his gun is jammed, so the Wolf Man decapitates him in one swipe. That alone is worth seeing the film for.
The acting is also good, Hugo Weaving is great as hypocritical police inspector Aberline(former foe of Jack the Ripper), this guy is one of those lawman antagonists you love to hate. Anthony Hopkins(as Sir John), as usual, steals the show. Whoever it was playing Maleva the gypsy was good too, I just wish she was given more screen-time, Maleva was my favorite character in the original.
Not great art, and certainly flawed, but a fun thrill ride for lovers of classic horror. I just wish that Paul Naschy(aka. Jacinto Molina), who starred in many werewolf films in his native Spain, had lived to see it(he died last year). I dedicate this review to him.~