THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
When being a monster runs in the family, it’ll be a mission to end the trail of terror.
PLOT
2010’s The Wolfman takes place in 1891 follows actor Lawrence Talbot return home in Blackmoor when his ex-sister in law Gwen Conliffe writes him a latter revealing her fiancé Ben has gone missing. By the time he gets home though, he finds his mutilated body at a slaughterhouse and shortly after does he reunite with his estranged father Sir John. When going out to a pub, he overhears locals theorize the actions to come from an animal while some expect Romani campers responsible. After spending one night at home, he recounts how he found his mother Solana dead via suicide and was sent to Lambeth Hospital when suffering from delusions of the incident at the time. When he later the visits the Romani one night to question if they’re responsible for what happened to Ben, the police raid the camp to confiscate a bear they believe to have done the crime. No one gets any answers yet due to an attack by a werewolf that takes many lives as well as biting Lawrence before escaping. The gypsy Maleva tends to his wounds, but her people suggest he should executed for the sake of saving others as he will be cursed as the new beast. She refuses to sacrifice him, as she claims only a loved one can release him. By the next morning, Lawrence has quickly recovered and has gained heightened senses in the process. He then gets visited by Inspector Francis Aberline who only shares suspicion towards him due to past mental history. Lawrence then gets confronted by hunters who suspect him to be responsible for what happened the previous night, but get halted by John who holds them at gunpoint until they leave. After this, Lawrence meets his dad’s servant Singh who warns him there is indeed a beast lurking in the woods. Afraid of Gwen’s safety, he sends her back to London to prevent her being harmed by himself or something worse. By next night, he sees his dad take a stroll on his own. He follows him to a shrine of his mom and a chair with restraints. John locks himself out so he can be left alone for the remainder of the night while also warning him that ‘The beast will have its day’. After hearing this warning does Lawrence transform to a werewolf for the first time and kills every hunter in his way. By sunrise does he wake up with all the blood on his clothes and gets arrested by Aberline & the company of police. He gets sent back to Lambeth and gets subjected to treatment by a sadistic Doctor Hoenneger. Eventually, John visits him to reveal he was the werewolf who bit him and was previously bitten by a rabid boy suffering from lycanthropy 25 years prior. Around that time, he was the one who killed Solana upon first transformation and because Lawrence saw this, he first sent him to Lambeth to suppress the memory. He’s had Singh restrain him for years, but the one time he opposed led to Ben and his excuse was being jealous over Gwen. Now insane to the point of embracing the beast within, he gives his son a razor blade in the case of contemplating suicide before departing. The following night, Lawrence is a part of a public lecture as a case study for Hoenneger’s case study where he tends to prove his worries false. Sadly, Lawrence is proven right when he transforms again and kills the doctor and some orderlies in order to escape, as well as kill multiple citizens outside. With Aberline witnessing the event, he pursues and tries to shoot him down but fails. Once turned back to human, Lawrence reaches out to Gwen for help but she doesn’t get to when Aberline catches up. Lawrence does escape and as Gwen plans to meet him at Talbot Hall, she finds Maleva who reconfirms there is no curse and he’ll have to die to save others. When he gets there first, he finds Singh killed by his dad and they get into a scuffle before they turn into werewolves by full moon. Lawrence does defeat John via beheading, but his bloodlust as a monster continues by the time Gwen arrives as well as Aberline. When the latter intervenes, he gets bit which gives Conliffe time to escape. The Wolfman catches up and corners her into a gorge, but his consciousness is able to remember her enough to spare her. However, Conliffe does commit the greater good by shooting him with Aberline’s gun while he gets distracted with approach of the police. Lawrence dies in her arms when turning back to human, but the film ends in a cliffhanger as Aberline watches the next full moon due to the curse being passed on to him.
THOUGHTS
Due to my love for monster films that were at full gear in my childhood, I didn’t create any expectations going in to avoid disappointment. Having said that, it relieves me that Joe Johnston directs the most gothic of remakes the Unviersal Monsters can get due to being a much different tale rather than being a shot for shot deal of what we got from ‘41. The said atmosphere works for this setting because the costume design as well as modern effects, computerization & Oscar winning practical makeup, were a great blend to show how grotesque it is to be a werewolf. There is even a special difference as you look back because in one perspective, the young Lawrence goes through it more painfully whereas John is already comfortable about it. What they share is the level of graphic violence they commit towards those in their way. The difference of their transformations is part of what makes this iteration of such a monster so distinguishable from previous ones is that showing the big difference when it comes to expressing inner anger. If you’re gonna let it out, make sure it’s against something worse otherwise you’ll regret harming the innocent. That is the polar opposite dilemma that occurs between the protagonist and antagonist who deal with their curse one way and another. Benicio Del Toro was a great choice as Lawrence for not only matching the aura left behind by Lon Chaney Jr., but also makes the role his own as we see him as a guy who tries to be tame after what he’s been through and hates himself when his predicament is set in stone. He came back home believing he can set things right with his family but as Anthony Hopkins expressed, Sir John was disassociated to the point he lost the sense of care in the world with all the pain he committed. You just know he’s lost it if he was willing to kill his son over his fiance. That alone shows he had to get put down, which makes it a miracle Lawrence pulled it off when not being as experienced as his dad, which led to an epic monster mash. What is sadder than that was him being killed by someone he cared about the most. He connected with Gwen so fast not just because she is the last memory of her brother, but he admires her being more willing to connect, far more humane compared to his dad which is pulled off thanks to a grounded performance by Emily Blunt. She ends up caring about him much more in return because she saw how genuine he was to care in return, hence sharing a kiss before she had to do the absolute. Lawrence’s death is just as sad as before because it is inevitable with the fact there is no cure and it has to happen to save the rest of the town. In a way, you can argue it was also in vein this time because the curse passed on and no one knows it yet. Hugo Weaving shook up the story as Aberline because he is a guy who has had his share of encountering evil incarnate and after failing to stop Jack the Ripper, he’s got a chip in his shoulder in protecting the town which validates his suspicion towards Lawrence. He had nothing against him either because the evidence added up and sadly, his motive to be an avenger has now cursed him to be what he swore to destroy which enhances the tragedy this story is all about. I think this movie works just fine on its own, but there were moments where I understood why some have a strong dislike towards it. For instance, why did it take so long for Maleva and her people to be questioned by the police? If the Romani are so easily discriminated, it’s a surprise they didn’t make a move long before Lawrence suspected them. Hell, even the Romani should’ve explained their suspicion of Talbot to Francis if they’re so sure he’s responsible. Even if they don’t got proof, they look crazier for not giving it a chance. And why would John sneak out if he knew his son was onto him? If he didn’t want him to know, he should’ve tried to wait until he was sure he wasn’t looking out the window. That bothered me more than the fact the shrine somehow hasn’t been burnt down with all those candles lit. I normally don’t know care about candles displayed in movies like this but because there were so much, it’s insane there hasn’t been a hazard of some kind to occur in the environment they were in. Moving on, I don’t get why Francis isn’t always armed if he’s an inspector. Even if he couldn’t guarantee Lawrence would break out, that should be on him at all times. Lastly, it’s a miracle he survived all the blood he lost because he wasn’t tended to by anyone compared to Lawrence. If you can ignore these flaws, you’ll still have a good time the way I have. In short, 2010’s The Wolfman is a standout remake for having its whole other form of passion to express. If you dig monster flicks, check this out whenever you can.
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