Wolfman-The Offical Thread

[VenomVsSpidey]

Elfman's score wasn't anything special. In fact, forgettable. The only thing I remember is that the score bombarded almost every scene. There were scenes where it didn't need music at all. I think the use of music seemed to rush the movie too. The music felt like they were ahead of the scenes.

While I was a bit underwhelmed by elfman's score, I really do love it. The track Wolf Suite, Part 1 on the OST is amazing.

 

[Figs]

"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"

This is the repeatedly spoken line in the classic 1941 film The Wolf Man and is what director Joe Johnston uses to start off his 2010 remake.

In this retelling which takes place during the late Victorian era, director Joe Johnston and writers Andrew Kevin Walker and David Self stick close to the original story while expanding on a few things only briefly mentioned in the Lon Chaney Jr. version. Lead character Lawrence Talbot leaves his theatre work to return home after hearing of his brother's death. Talbot is seemingly reluctant to come back to his father’s estate in Blackmoor, England and is only there to see his brother for the first and sadly last time in many years. Benicio Del Toro plays Talbot a bit reserved and with little emotion but really starts to come through after the first transformation and when he begins to deal with his newfound curse. At first Del Toro seems like he’s not giving it his all but as the film goes on you see just how troubled and haunted his character is and why he isn’t full of energy.

The film has a great supporting cast consisting of Anthony Hopkins as Lawrence’s father Sir John Talbot, Emily Blunt as Gwen Conliffe, the late fiancée of Lawrence’s deceased brother Ben and Hugo Weaving playing a fictionalized version of Inspector Abberline of Jack the Ripper fame. With only seeing one other film with Blunt in it, I thought she did pretty well as the saddened fiancée who confides in Lawrence to find out who murdered Ben Talbot. The little romance that starts between Gwen and Lawrence is unnecessary though and feels a bit forced. Not to mention it happens rather quickly which I can assume is from the editing job this film had. While Hopkins does well and seems to have had a bit of fun playing the reclusive and somewhat sinister father, it’s Weaving that steals the show (the tavern scene alone is a great example) and is only rivaled by the Wolfman himself. The dialogue is nothing great but works for the most part and doesn’t have unnecessary humor thrown in at every turn to lighten the mood.

With the film being about a man who changes into a werewolf, you expect there to be some blood, violence, and scares. While The Wolfman doesn’t disappoint in the blood and gore department, the scares are cheap. Instead of using the atmosphere and shadows (which were well done by the way) to keep the audience on the edge of their seats, Johnston chooses to quickly throw things at the screen with loud sound effects and music cues. While I don’t have a problem with using a few cheap scares in films now and again, I think The Wolfman would have benefited using less of them, much like a lot of other horror films should have in recent memory.

In regards to special effects, it’s a bit disappointing to see they used CGI during some of the transformation scenes when they had makeup and effects master, Rick Baker. A few of the scenes that stand out the most are when he’s strapped to the chair and starts flicking his tongue out when changing and the other was during one of the last scenes involving Lawrence and his father, which I didn’t care for despite being somewhat entertaining. The sound effects during his transformation were great though, especially the snapping and shifting of his bones. Aside from the CGI used, Del Toro in full costume looks fantastic. It’s a great modern update to the classic look that Lon Chaney Jr. had.

Although I really enjoyed this film, the pacing could have been much better. With past reports stating the problems this film had in the editing room which led to the release date being pushed back, I’m not surprised with the final product. The movie doesn’t dwell enough on a good number of scenes, it just rushes through them for the most part which is sad considering how good the sets look, especially at night. You also don’t get to see much of Lawrence’s acting on the stage or his trip back to England. It just jumps from him on the stage for a second or two to quickly arriving at his father’s home. The editing problem is felt the most when it comes down to character development.

There are plenty of nods to the original film like Sir John Talbot’s telescope, as well as delving into what Doctor Lloyd (played by Warren William) said in the 1941 version, “I believe a man lost in the mazes of his own mind may imagine that he's anything.” to name a few. It was great that they went into Talbot’s mind a bit in the asylum thinking they could cure him as well as the flashback scene of him finding his dead mother and how over the years Lawrence forgets exactly what he saw that night.

All in all, this film (as well as Dog Soldiers) is one of the better werewolf films to come out in the last ten years. Despite its editing and character development problems here and there, it’s an entertaining horror film and in my eyes one of the few good (or decent) remakes we’ve had. Recently there was an interview with Johnston talking about an extended cut with 17 minutes of footage thrown back in, most of which is character moments as opposed to action and violence. Hopefully that can fix a number of this film’s problems.

3/5

 

[Nivek]

I have been waiting a couple years to see it since the first casting announcements and the release of the first pictures of Del Toro in costume. But as soon as the production delays started, multiple editors were brought in, and reshoots happened, I had a feeling we were going to get a butchered mess. Unfortunately, this film suffers from another case of studios dicking around with the final product and not just letting the film makers make their own damn movie.

Now, I am not saying this movie has it's moments. The Rick Baker Werewolf make-up and costumes were kickass, to the point I want to make a Wolfman suit for the Halloween season. The level of violence action was decent as well. When Benicio turns into a Werewolf, he just tears people up. Baker and the other FX guys did their work well. The use of CG IMO, was what the term "Heavy handed" was made for. When you hire Rick Baker, why in the hell resort to weak CG (in comparison to the physical FX) to pull off transformations? It's pretty telling to me when people complain about the CG bear and Stag, but people gloss over the transformation CG that looks like from the early 2000's. Just more armchair FX artists complaining about the wrong things.

But I did take issue with the story being over-comprimised and certain parts being truncated or over-extended (mostly due to choppy "studio touched" editing), the continuity (the Full Moon should be 3 days, just like AWIL, and it takes a month to get back home walking in England?), and unfortunately some of the performances were a bit on autopilot. I love Hopkins in his older stuff, but his Sir John is too menacing from the get go to hide a basic "big" spoiler that is supposed to be a big surprise. I seen it coming in the first trailers. Blunt is okay as the proper Victorian Damsel, but it seemed like some substantial character meat was trimmed a little bit too thin. Weaving is just entertaining to watch as ever (Remember, remember...), and I hope this makes enough money to give us a sequel with him in it as the lead. But again, performance wise, it was hit and miss. Never been a huge fan of Benicio, but I respect that he finally got his wish to play the Wolfman, and he was very Cheney Jr. like.

All in all, I enjoyed it. But it wasn't something that will quiet the negative reviews because sadly, some of them do have a point. I would say it is a great modern remake/ retelling of the 1941 film. But it's more closer to something like Jack Nicholsons Wolf than Wes Cravens Cursed, but still, I expected a bit better product given the time in post-production.

6.5/10

 

[Doctor Jones]

http://www.veoh.com/collection/CineTrailer/watch/v154022926Fxs6r2E#

This is still my favorite trailer for the film. I was blown away by it. You can see some of the things that were cut.

I seem to remember one of the reshoots was the fighting werewolves scene. Was their a time when Sir John wasn't a werewolf?

 

[Citizen_Steve]

While I was a bit underwhelmed by elfman's score, I really do love it. The track Wolf Suite, Part 1 on the OST is amazing.

Been jamming it on my ipod ever since I saw the movie. There's a definite "Dracula" influence, which I love. I thought it was very appropriate for the film, but would've liked to have heard it used more prominently in the film itself. I think a lot of it got hacked up in the final cut. To think they were just going to jettison this score is baffling to me. It's awesome.

 

[Nivek]

yes i thought the make-up and design looked terrible and unconvincing...
i dont care who made it and why... in the film it looked amateurish and took me out of the moment.

it was just a solid mask over his face that never moved or showed any kind of reaction...

...and least the heads in the underworld movies were animatronic... and moved.

to each his own, but even with cool make-up/costume this movie would still be as mediocre and pointless as it was.

You know I like the Underworld movies as much as you do, but when I read this, my jaw just dropped open, man. Considering how articulate actually is, this is a pretty dumb statement. Maybe because Benicio had a mouth full of big-ass teeth so he was in perpetual snarl, you didn't see much change. But it's Rick Baker we are talking about here, the guy does not do "amateurish" SPFX make-ups. Patrick Tatopoulos himself would call you out on that.

 

[Nivek]

Been jamming it on my ipod ever since I saw the movie. There's a definite "Dracula" influence, which I love. I thought it was very appropriate for the film, but would've liked to have heard it used more prominently in the film itself. I think a lot of it got hacked up in the final cut. To think they were just going to jettison this score is baffling to me. It's awesome.

Better than the fake score CHUD and AICN humiliated themselves with. LOL.

 

[xwolverine2]

To each their own. But honestly you seem to prefer CGI over prosthetics. And in the case of werewolves, it just doesn't need to be done. The scariest werewolves on film imo are from An American Werewolf in London and the first Howling movie.

But I do love the retro look of Baker's work here. For the record it was not a mask. The hair may have been matted around and under the head and there may have been something around the mouth, but the rest of his face and his eyes had complete mobility. It was done not only as an homage to the awesome werewolf of the original, but also to allow Del Toro to use his expressions. In short it was make-up more than "a mask."

As for Underworld. Eh. Those looked far more fake than the Wolfman. I actually really enjoy the look of the Lycans in the first two films (but the lower budget of UW3 was apparent whenever they were on screen). But at the end of the day, they were clearly guys in suits and not as good as two of the werewolf movies of 1981 and not as good as the Wolfman look. Whether he looked "like a bad Halloween costume" or not. He had mobility. The werewolves of Underworld have always been immobile props when CGI isn't used.



As for the rest of the movie. I agree it borders on mediocre. Though there are enough things to like in it for me (cinematography, attack scenes, make-up, cast and asylum sequence) I'll bump it up to "just okay." Agree to disagree, I suppose though.

i dont prefer cgi over practical... i like which ever comes out best in the end.
look at the movie Wolf.. done completely practically, and didnt look ridiculous. His face was also able to show complete emotions.

all these people saying the mask had any kind of mobility(on the FACE) must've seen another movie than me... this guy looked like he had trouble opening his mouth with all the dentures they put on him.
what scene in particular do you remember his face showing any kind of expression? ...

yes the underworld werewolves couldnt walk or run to save there lives but their faces were nice animatronics that gave them expression. the running is what cgi is for... even this movie used it for him to run on all fours(and when he ran on two feet it looked silly).

 

[Nivek]

what scene in particular do you remember his face showing any kind of expression? ...

When the Wolfman is leaning over Blunt, and said "Gwennnnn....", you seen his expression soften a bit.

 

[Figs]

i dont prefer cgi over practical... i like which ever comes out best in the end.
look at the movie Wolf.. done completely practically, and didnt look ridiculous. His face was also able to show complete emotions.

Although I enjoyed Wolf, the makeup in that film was even less werewolf like then what people are complaining about in The Wolfman. In Wolf it was practically their normal faces with a some teeth and eyebrows added here and there.

all these people saying the mask had any kind of mobility(on the FACE) must've seen another movie than me... this guy looked like he had trouble opening his mouth with all the dentures they put on him.
what scene in particular do you remember his face showing any kind of expression? ...

yes the underworld werewolves couldnt walk or run to save there lives but their faces were nice animatronics that gave them expression. the running is what cgi is for... even this movie used it for him to run on all fours(and when he ran on two feet it looked silly).

When he ran on two feet it looked fine because all bipedals would pretty much run the same way. It wasn't like he was running doing the wild "monkey arms". For those who don't know what that is, it's running while being silly and sort of letting your arms go limp so they flail about. A decent example would be in the Friday. When that guy runs off crying because Debo took his necklace, he had some "monkey arm" action going on.

 

[Doctor Jones]

He said her name?

 

[Nivek]

He said her name?

It went from a growl to "Gggwweennnn...", but he clearly said it when she was doing the "remember me, Lawrence, remember me..." bit.

 

[xwolverine2]

When the Wolfman is leaning over Blunt, and said "Gwennnnn....", you seen his expression soften a bit.

lol i didnt see a facial expression change there... just an extreme close up of his eyes (and his growling sounds slowed down).

nor do i remember him saying her name in wolfman form. or ever talking as the wolfman for that matter.

 

[Nivek]

It was only that one part. But his scowl softened, when he rears back when the villagers approached, you see his face tighten up again.

I can see where you think his expressions never change, but the make-up is actually pretty damn malleable. Check out Make-up artist magazine, where you see Baker applying the Make-up on Benicio. You see him smiling and laughing, relaxed, but once you get those big teeth in... Perma-snarl...

 

[xwolverine2]

It was only that one part. But his scowl softened, when he rears back when the villagers approached, you see his face tighten up again.

I can see where you think his expressions never change, but the make-up is actually pretty damn malleable. Check out Make-up artist magazine, where you see Baker applying the Make-up on Benicio. You see him smiling and laughing, relaxed, but once you get those big teeth in... Perma-snarl...

i think it would've been better had they chose to leave him in the mid-tranformation state that looked awesome...

cg- midtrans
http://angryweb.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/Wolfman-TP_0083R.jpg

practical full transformation
http://lantre.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/wolfman.jpg?w=397&h=511

 

[Matt Mortem]

I don't think there is too much difference between the two. The full practical effect still looks best. I didn't like how the CG looked.

 

[Nivek]

I hated the CG Transformation FX in this film. Ruined what should have been the highlight of the film. Looked like something that would have been passable 10 years ago, it was so... gooey I guess is an apt description. Universal is king for using cheap CG companies, when you hire artists that cannot keep the number of Teeth in check between human and Wolfman, you know what your going to get.

 

[xwolverine2]

really? i thought that was the highlight of the film... i mean i agree the quality of the cg was not great, but i think it came out nicely..

i heard my whole theater cringe when he was transforming and you see his teeth ripping out of their sockets and his facial bones cracking and manipulating.

 

[Nivek]

IMO it was cringe worthy digital FX. I hope Johnson get's more critical of this kind of work before he does Captain America.

 

[VenomVsSpidey]

Been jamming it on my ipod ever since I saw the movie. There's a definite "Dracula" influence, which I love. I thought it was very appropriate for the film, but would've liked to have heard it used more prominently in the film itself. I think a lot of it got hacked up in the final cut. To think they were just going to jettison this score is baffling to me. It's awesome.

This.

 

[DACrowe]

http://www.veoh.com/collection/CineTrailer/watch/v154022926Fxs6r2E#

This is still my favorite trailer for the film. I was blown away by it. You can see some of the things that were cut.

I seem to remember one of the reshoots was the fighting werewolves scene. Was their a time when Sir John wasn't a werewolf?

Nice find. I haven't watched that in a year. Man all the trailers, but this particular, makes the movie look better than it is. However I noticed besides the alternate escape scene (the ballroom and streets of London was reshot to be more dramatic and for the best, I bet) there were scenes not in the movie. There were shots of Lawrence walking around town not in the theatrical cut as well as a number of shots noting an apparently longer trip to the house at the beginning of the movie.

The movie is very flawed, but I look forward to seeing the longer cut and seeing if it just moves better--which is my biggest complaint.

 

[DACrowe]

i dont prefer cgi over practical... i like which ever comes out best in the end.
look at the movie Wolf.. done completely practically, and didnt look ridiculous. His face was also able to show complete emotions.

all these people saying the mask had any kind of mobility(on the FACE) must've seen another movie than me... this guy looked like he had trouble opening his mouth with all the dentures they put on him.
what scene in particular do you remember his face showing any kind of expression? ...

yes the underworld werewolves couldnt walk or run to save there lives but their faces were nice animatronics that gave them expression. the running is what cgi is for... even this movie used it for him to run on all fours(and when he ran on two feet it looked silly).

Well I think the wolfman is in a permanent "I'm going to **** your **** up" mode in the film. But I think the anger and savagery in Del Toro's face could be seen beautifully when he kills the guy in the bog or has that nasty close-up with the dude he kills in the pit. But he can show an element of peace as seen in the moment where he howls at the moon in London or is under the Tower Bridge.

But the most expressive moment is you can actually see hesitation, recognition and regret in his face when he is leering over Gwen and she is able to calm him for a moment.

Underworld is fun and all, but the only time the CGI worked for me was one shot in UW1 where a lycan landed on top of a train (and there we only see feet and hands) and at the end of UW2 where the granddaddy white werewolf is fighting Kate Beckinsale. Otherwise the CGI (due to small budgets) was pretty bad. IN UW3 when the lycans were running across a field to attack the vampires it looked terrible, as well as at the beginning when they went to attack Rhona Mitra on a horse. And the prosthetics weren't that good in the third. The close-ups at the end, like when Lucian howls for back-up or in the final fight looked really bad too.

I was surprised how effective they made the Wolfman look. He could run on two and it worked in medium shots and when they needed him to book it aggressively in long shots, the CGI for him to be on all fours worked. Again to each their own.

P.S. The make-up in Wolf was also done by Rick Baker. It was clearly influenced by the make-up in the original Wolf Man as well. But it was done so the audience could never lose sight of it being Jack Nicholson as a werewolf. It was a bit of a movie star move and also to let it be Nicholson's id on screen. With The Wolfman, a remake of a very set style, he needed to be an unrecognizable monster but still have an element of humanity. Basically in between Baker's other two efforts (Wolf and AWIL). I thought it worked.

 

[cryptic name]

lol i didnt see a facial expression change there... just an extreme close up of his eyes (and his growling sounds slowed down).

nor do i remember him saying her name in wolfman form. or ever talking as the wolfman for that matter.

you're right, the wolfman definitely never spoke. but there are definitely shots where his expressions change. just a few examples where you can clearly see how expressive the make up is:

.in the surgical theater when the wolfman seems to recognize the doctor
.perched on the gargoyle, confusedly looking down at london
.right before he kills the villager in the bog
.throughout the fight with papa werewolf

 

[Doctor Jones]

Nice find. I haven't watched that in a year. Man all the trailers, but this particular, makes the movie look better than it is. However I noticed besides the alternate escape scene (the ballroom and streets of London was reshot to be more dramatic and for the best, I bet) there were scenes not in the movie. There were shots of Lawrence walking around town not in the theatrical cut as well as a number of shots noting an apparently longer trip to the house at the beginning of the movie.

The movie is very flawed, but I look forward to seeing the longer cut and seeing if it just moves better--which is my biggest complaint.

Agreed. For some reason I always thought the old man's story about his father was apart of that beginning of the trailer and was apart of the film. Shows what editing can do.

But some shots I don't remember seeing. There a quick shot of a pair of feet being dragged up from the floor in the last quarter of the trailer.

 

[Figs]

This is so stupid I almost didn't feel like posting it but someone else must share my pain. This is a fan letter from a pissed off Twitard who thinks Universal ripped off New Moon. This is worse than most of the insane stuff you hear from the obsessed Avatar fans. Link to actual report is at the end. The grammer is atrocious as well, you've been warned.

To whom this may concern:

This movie was a complete waste and I feel that it offends ALL Twilight Fans around the world, that including myself. For one, it was a COMPLETE remaking of the Wolf Pack from the Twilight Saga: New Moon. It gives the werewolves a bad name and makes them look like some deformed mutation of a rabid dog. I actually started to like werewolves after seeing Jacob Black and all his awesomeness on the big screen at the movies. That was until I saw your crappy remake of what you call to be a "were wolf". I don't see how you live with yourself for making it the way you did. If I made this movie, I would be ashamed to even admit that I owned it. How can a werewolf be killed with a silver bullet? Better yet, have you saw the transformation of the man that is "supposed" to be the wolf? He sits in some chair and his entire body turns in to some mutated freak. If you would watch the transformation of Jacob Black, (Taylor Lautner) he doesn't come close to looking as fake, cheap and or mutated as the wolf man. You tell me, who looks to be the better werewolf. Your stupid Wolf Movie didn't even make the top Movie for the charts; Valentines Day WITH TAYLOR Lautner! Get that this is MY oppinion and I felt I wanted to express it because I saw that your email was on your site. I wanted to let you know this is what i thought of the wolf man that sucks.
FREAKIN LAUTNER DID!

The Poser of who could never be even if they tried : " Aka : Rabid poser Werewolf "The Wolf Man"

OR My favorite: Taylor Daniel Lautner aka Jacob Black

TEAM JACOB- cuz hes a REAL WEREWOLVE!

Regards: Kayla Patterson ([email protected]) Feel free to reply

http://www.latinoreview.com/news/open-letter-to-universal-your-wolfman-ripped-off-twilight-9247?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latinoreview+%28Latino+Review%29&utm_content=Twitter