One of the iconic monsters in movie history gets a fresh coat of paint so that it can look pretty much just like it did in the 1941 original. That is not to say the movie isn't visually impressive, the digital effects are generally convincing, my problems with the creature stem more from how not-horrifying the creature design actually is.Speaking of horror, this movie basically subsists on consistently startling the viewer with tension-building music and camera angles designed to make you think something is right there, about to leap out. There's also a fair bit of gore in the form of beheadings and guts strewn about the earth, but most of this happens in dim light leaving much of it up to the viewer to imagine the full extent of the carnage. That said, I would still recommend parents respect the R rating and not take their children under 12 to this movie. Yes, we did see several younger children in the theater.
I did like Danny Elfman's score, it was suitably retro-horror sounding. The werewolf transformations were pretty cool, but still don't quite rival the spectacular displays of An American Werewolf in London, even considering those were practical effects and not CG. Speaking of which, I realized The Wolfman presents a scenario in which we basically have an American werewolf in London. Well, it made me snicker, anyway.
I had some issues with the pacing of the film. As I said before, this movie has an intense focus on startling the viewer, which means there are long sections where basically nothing at all happens in order to build tension. I felt these lulls dragged the movie down a little too much. There's also this problem about mid-way through the movie where there's a full moon for only one night. Oops. And it's not like this is a problem with editing, it's just how the story was written. We need the wolf here, we just don't want to deal with him for a full three days. There's also the primary message of the movie, this issue of fate. Do we have control of our destiny or is it all decided for us? Obviously well-traveled ground and there's nothing new here. I did get a distinct feeling of helplessness, though. Out of no where, a person could be cursed, whether it's being bitten by a supernatural werewolf creature, or having one's house destroyed by a tornado. These are powerful forces we can't control and we get this feeling that anything outside of our control is the raw power of fate at work in our lives. Do we accept it and let the beast free or do we fight fate and kill ourselves. I feel like there should be other options. It shouldn't be any surprise that in the end fate wins, but I'm not sure how I am supposed to feel about that.
Decent movie. Lots of scares. A message that makes you fear the futility of life. Decent effects. Somewhat poor pacing. Rawr.
