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Created Feb 20, 2010 07:55AM PST • Edited Feb 20, 2010 07:58AM PST

1. Quality

2. Summary

   Good 3.0

   The Wolfman is a movie that I have been anticipating for quite some time. The first test shots of Benicio Del Toro that showed up online really piqued my interest and got me excited. I’m a fan of Benicio to begin with, but then the fantastic makeup effects pushed it over the edge. The trailers too, made the movie look really scary – a good shot of classic horror in a field dominated by gore-fests like Hostel.

   That being said – it was just okay. Capable of so much more than it was, but still enjoyable. There was actually a fair amount of gore in this film. More disembowling, mutilating, decapitating than I thought there would be. Part of what I like about horror is the opportunity where you don’t get to see as much of that, so you’re left to fill it in yourself. I was a bit disappointed in that aspect of the movie.

   There were some good scares and the overall look of the film is fantastic. It was enjoyable, but probably better left to the netflix list rather than a trip to the theater.

4. Acting

   Good 3.0

   I love me some Benicio Del Toro. He’s always fun to watch and is a very genuine character. This movie is no exception. He was very believable and put himself in the character better than any others in the movie. The accent was also very well covered up, only really noticeable in one spot for me. He was very much the troubled, tormented hero that he should have been and ended up being the one shining spot of the movie.

   Anthony Hopkins is always good, but he didnt really push to great here. Look at Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs or Titus and you see a character. Someone driving the story and the movie with who he is. In Wolfman, he’s just Anthony Hopkins. Not really phoning it in, but not really pushing himself either.

   The rest of the cast (Hugo Weaving and Emily Blunt) were limited by the story. Not a lot of room for them to develop past what they are. I think Weaving put in a pretty good performance and had a pretty solid character, but no real opportunity to do anything with it. So again enjoyable, but capable of more.

5. Male Stars Great 4.0

6. Female Stars OK 2.5

7. Female Costars Good 3.0

8. Male Costars Very Good 3.5

10. Film

    Great 4.0

    The look of this film is fantastic. It is a very well imagined world and the details are spot on. The special effects were fantastic. As wary as I was of the CGI transformation that I was seeing (instead of the Rick Baker designed practical transformation) I was very surpised how it turned out. Like the gore, they showed a bit too much I think and didn’t leave enough to our imagination, but it looked spectacular. The Wolfman makeup was fantastic. Without giving too much away, it was also nice to see the makeup change a bit from person to person.

    The atmosphere of the film was very well handled. The look was spot on and the direction was good. Limited by a weak and predictable story there was only so far it could go, but again it was enjoyable.

11. Direction Really Great 4.5

12. Play Good 3.0

13. Music Good 3.0

14. Visuals Perfect 5.0
15. Content

16. Edge

    Risqué 2.5

    Very gory film. It had its place, just not to that extent. You want to communicate the savagry of the curse and you want to show enough so that you really understand what Talbot has to live with having done. There comes a point, though, when you are not leaving anything to the viewer, you’re just being gratuitous and I think this movie goes a bit too far. When you don’t show everything, you leave a bit to the imagination. If we don’t see the axe going into the body, the violence of the wound is up to us. We get to decide if its a clean cut, or if its a bloody mess. Its not quite as fun when you get to see everything and drastically changes the overall feeling.

17. Sex Titillating 2.0

18. Violence Savage 4.5

19. Rudeness Polite 1.1

21. Reality

    Supernatural 3.7

    Not at all. A man turns into a giant wolf under the full moon. It was set up believable, however, in how it may be handled at that time. The monster is more handled as a myth, but at a time when myths were very feared and in this case rightfully so.

22. Circumstantial Natural 1.0

23. Biological Fantasy 5.0

24. Physical Fantasy 5.0