"Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night, may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms, and the autumn moon is bright."~Opening lines of "The Wolfman"
I Must warn you that there may be some slight spoilers in this review
So many critics downed this film. I don't see why. I went in the theater, expecting a "good" film. All of the negative reviews got me to think a little low of it, in my anticipation. Though, as history will show, the best critic of a film is yourself. Many a time have a walked into a theater and watched a film, that had horrid critical response, and adored it. This was one of those times. Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, and Hugo Weaving in a single film. How can you go wrong with the acting? It didn't seem that much went wrong. Though, Hugo, a Britt, had an accent that was a little weaker than one would expect for a cop from Scotland Yard. Also, the various accents in the film were a little odd to hear when in conversation with each other. One would expect Benicio to have a similar accent to Anthony, who played his character's father. Nonetheless, the acting is still wonderful.
Some have said that the way that the action comes to a fast halt is annoying. I would like you to take a look at many films that have someone transform into a beast. Doesn't the action tend to come to a halt in the morning after they transform back to their usual state?
Now, the action, and there is a lot of it, is greatly done. I'd like to warn you that this film is very gory and filled with people being disemboweled by certain things that go bump in the night.((Werewolves you blithering idiot!)) The visual details on the Wolfman, himself, is lacking a tad bit. However, it is always nice to see a successful combination of CGI and makeup. I suppose that it looks a little corny. Though, if you love the look of Lon Cheney Junior when he was the Wolfman, you'll love the look of the Wolfman in this film.
Now, I found the story to be excellent and held together quite well. I can't say that there were any flaws in the storyline, though I haven't done much research in Lycanthropy. I found the religious moments in the film to be done quite well. Afterall, if you were in that time period and there was a Werewolf wondering about, killing loads of people, wouldn't you think "God is cursing mankind!" or "Satan is up to something!"? I'm sure that I would.
With all of this said, I would give this film 4 out of 5 stars. It is not perfection, but I found it to be quite close to it. Not all will enjoy this film as much as I did, but I do suggest that you go see it if you are into this kind of film.
Until my imagination ceases to exist, I'm JJMeylar.
Thanks for reading...