Directed by Joe Johnston and Starring Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt and Hugo Weaving
Benicio Del Toro stars as a well-to-do actor called urgently home from abroad with news of the death of his brother. Upon his arrival home, he quickly learns that the circumstances of his brother's death were quite murderous and quite supernatural.
Upon his own investigation, he finds the truth that his brother was killed by a monster-- a monster he would soon face... and become.
I'm on the fence with this one. Yes, I enjoyed it a great deal. There are many things that I thought were great about it. But at the same time, there are many things that just didn't work for me.
Let's do the old "Do you want the 'good' news? Or do you want the 'bad' news?" routine, shall we?
'Bad' news first (that way we'll end on a high note and everyone is happy)--
I recognize the fact that this is a remake, but in recent years with the multitude of remakes being done, there is some kind of new aspect that has been introduced into the story or something to make it more relevant to the audiences of today and our culture. There was none of that. It has been awhile since I've seen the original, but werewolf movies I have seen plenty of so I can say that (for me) there wasn't that new aspect to this story. I didn't walk out of the theatre saying to myself, "Wow. They did a pretty good job retelling that." Ultimately, there were no surprises.
The effects were confusing. Not that I didn't get them, but simply at their inconsistencies. While some of the effects were really cool and in every way impressive (like the start of the transformation, for example), there were just as many effects that just did not have the same "feel". Or, the outcome of said effects (the transformation, to conclude the example) just weren't that great.
Okay, that's all I remember of the 'Bad' stuff.
Now for the 'Good'--
It's a classic story. It's a story that just can't get old. It was very well told and very enjoyable to watch. I really appreciated the fact that the filmmakers really tried their best to keep the overall feel of the original movie. I respect that a great deal.
The lighting was done very well in keeping with the gothic aura of the wolf man's tale; very moody, dense fog, firelight. It seemed very natural and that is hard to do.
The score really kept the pulse of the movie on track. Danny Elfman brought his game and it really set an incredible building tension throughout.
One aspect I really liked was the subplot between the son (Del Toro) and father (Hopkins) and the tension they share is felt fairly well.
Like I said earlier... I'm on the fence. I've got one tip-toe hanging over the left and one tip-toe hanging over the right. The good, the bad. It's still a valiant effort.
For the most part I liked it and had a good time watching it with a group of good friends.
That's what it's really all about sometimes, isn't it?
Enjoy.
Brice
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