Benicio Del Toro and Anthony Hopkins really should have found better things to do than star in horrible horror remake
THE WOLFMAN (Joe Johnston, 2010)
Opens Friday, February 12
www.thewolfmanmovie.com
Universal put together an all-star lineup for its big-budget remake of its own 1941 horror classic, THE WOLF MAN, but everything did not quite go as planned. A year delay was promulgated by the first director, Mark Romanek, quitting, composer Danny Elfman walking out, monster guru Rick Baker having to redo his initial batch of designs, one of the leads unable to join the rest of the cast for some very late reshoots, and a pair of emergency editors being rushed in to salvage at least something. Well, they should have left it all on the cutting-room floor. THE WOLFMAN (yes, they made it one word, probably to make it easier to find in web searches?) is indeed the very disaster it looked like it would be, a soulless reimagining of George Waggner’s psychologically dramatic and sweetly charming original. The schlocky new production stars Benicio Del Toro as Lawrence Talbot, the prodigal son returning to the family homestead following the disappearance of his highly esteemed brother. Lawrence immediately falls for his brother’s fiancée, Gwen Conliffe (Emily Blunt), while attempting to get along with his regal father, Sir John (Anthony Hopkins), but all of the relationships in the film feel forced. Director Joe Johnston (JURASSIC PARK III) eschews real terror in favor of cheap thrills and unnecessary violence, although there are a couple of pretty cool beheadings. But by the end, you’ll find yourself laughing out loud at the utterly absurd dialogue, which doesn’t even qualify as camp, though it does come close in a few places.