Starring: Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt
Director: Joe Johnston (Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Jumanji)
Running Time: 2 hrs 5 min
Release Date: Feb. 12, 2010
Budget: $150 million
Critics’ Thumbs Up: 42%
“…surprisingly enjoyable…” Ty Burr, Boston Globe
“…bafflingly inert.” Ernest Hardy, LA Weekly
Though it’s based on Universal’s classic horror film and about one of the cinema’s most iconic monsters, The Wolfman is surprisingly forgettable. Del Toro stars as Lawrence Talbot, an American-living actor who reunites with his estranged father (a per usual creepy Hopkins) when he returns home to 1890s England to find his missing brother. After an accidental bite, Lawrence becomes The Wolfman and meanwhile discovers secrets about his family history. Del Toro, with his dark, enigmatic features, nails Lawrence’s alienation, but he doesn’t fully convey his fear nor does he make him relatable. With a pace that doesn’t pick up until halfway through and is more gory than scary, Wolfman’s better off as a Halloween rental.
