The Wolfman (2010)

For Lawrence Talbot (Benicio del Toro) his life ended the night his mother died. Sent to an insane asylum as a boy, shortly thereafter by his father (Sir Anthony Hopkins), Lawrence leaves the institution a bitter man. When news of his brother’s mauled body reaches him, Lawrence returns to England to find his brother’s killer. When he himself is attacked, Lawrence discovers an insatiable blood lust and an unlikely lineage.

This Gothic reinterpretation of the 1940’s horror classic is more atmospheric than anything. Gloomy, eerie, and foggy—it looks amazing. The special effects are solid. The transformation from man to wolf and back again for Benicio del Toro is seamless. The scares are authentic. The cast is above average and includes Emily Blunt and Hugo Weaving. Danny Elfman’s score is perfectly brooding. It's just somewhere along the way, the plot got shelved.

Del Toro parlays his broken man turned hairy beast into solid, albeit one-sided role. Hopkins is, as always, fascinating, but too obvious. Emily Blunt is stiff. All do well considering the under whelming dialogue. It’s awful. The director fails to build any semblance of emotionality amid the stop and go pacing and with poor story elements, well, it just kills it.

As I see it, The Wolfman is a decent film. It’s visually engaging. But unless you project the original storyline on it, The Wolfman is only as good as its scares.