What does one think of when they hear about a movie called, “The Wolfman”? It’s most likely great CGI and gore, which is exactly what the film delivers. Set in England in 1891, the story revolves around Lawrence Talbot (Del Toro), who returns home after he hears his brother was killed. The people in the town gossip over whether he was murdered or whether it was some sort of a creature. But after Talbot is bitten by a wolf while trying to discover the truth, he soon turns into a werewolf every full moon. There’s a lot more to it but I don’t want to give anything away.
The movie opens and closes with a full moon, which perfectly sets the mood. The first scene sets the tone, with red, blood colored titles. In the first scene, the brother is brutally killed by the wolfman, and it’s fantastically done. This also sets the tone. The one thing that can make or break a movie like this is the style of it. The production design is fantastic. It can either be campy or extremely dark. THANKFULLY, the film has a foggy, dark, eerie feeling to it.
One thing that contributes to the style of it is the amount of gore. In this type of movie, nothing is more fun than people run over by carriages, heads bitten off, mutilation and implements with spikes. Instead of dumbing it down to the PG-13 audience, it goes the full way. Most of the time, you don’t see it coming. You blink and someone has been brutally killed. It’s surprising how much they actually show, Joe Johnson doesn’t spare a single drop of blood during the murder sprees. Then, when they show the already dead people, there’s guts and organs all over the place.
The CGI scenes are jaw dropping. When Talbot changes, it’s phenomenally done. The film shows just enough. Its horrifying and disgusting at the same time. But it isn’t perfect; when you see the Wolfman zipping through the woods it’s obviously animated. It would have been nice to show a little more in those scenes.
Fortunately, the story is just enough. Although a little clichéd, it’s satisfying. Even though there’s a bit too much talking. One/fifth of the movie is werewolf scenes and that isn’t nearly enough when the title is, “The Wolfman”. The last 20 minutes of the movie become a bit silly and overexagerated. You know almost exactly what’s going to happen and when, which is a bit of a disappointment. But, in all honesty, who really cares when the audience is having such a good time. I’d rather see Del Toro then Taylor Lautner any day.
Overall, “The Wolfman” has great CGI and phenomenal production design. It’s a bloody fun time at the movies (Pun intended).