Leigh Whannell’s ‘Wolf Man’ is Less Wolf, More the Fly
Image Courtesy of Universal Pictures
By Luis Zonenberg
While it was a surprise that John Cena was not approached for Leigh Whannell’s Invisible Man, it was sad to see Ryan Gosling drop out for his latest film. With Wolf Man, Whanell takes a second stab at adapting a Universal Classic monster film with far less successful results. The main problem though here surprisingly seems to be committing to actually making it a Wolf-Man movie.
The story focuses on Blake Lovell (Christopher Abbott) taking his family up to his childhood home after his father, Grady (Sam Jaeger), was officially declared deceased. On the ride up, they are attacked by an unknown animal and lock themselves in the house for protection. Blake suffers a severe injury from the attack and soon falls ill, slowly transforming into a monstrous figure as his wife, Charlotte(Julia Garner), works to protect their daughter, Ginger (Matilda Firth), from the unknown threat.
The overall story is very well-written, adding some nice body horror elements and cleverly treats this case of lycanthropy like an actual disease. Just as the trailers teased, the audience is able to see Blake’s changing perspective as his sense of hearing and smell sharpen. With his marriage on the line and another wolf-man roaming outside, the danger is clear while the emotions are set to ride high for the finale.
While it would have been cool to see Gosling in the lead role, Abbott does a nice portrayal of a man slowly losing his grip on humanity. Garner and Firth also rise to the occasion and help anchor the movie as his supporting family. The rest of the cast though seemed to struggle with either how serious or strange their characters had to be whenever they appeared in the film.
I will note that the VFX are remarkable though, and cleverly combine practical prosthetics and makeup with CGI rather seamlessly. The only clunky part seemed to be in the main design of the actual “Wolf-Man” and it was rather disappointing. What was supposed to be a giant animalistic presence instead came across as more of a shirtless junkie who failed to shave off his chest hair.
The only other main problem here was that the actual transformation took up most of the story, almost like this was a twisted update on Cronenberg’s the Fly. Instead, there is a different Wolf-Man running amuck and providing most of the scares before the father actually transforms. While the charm of the actors and laudable story additions kept me engaged, I still found myself disappointed by this and the “twist” in the third act did not help much either.
This movie feels like a marriage with no commitment as the overall story focuses more on the actual transformation rather than diving into the howling results. While these problems do hinder the film, more than enough elements worked to create a thoroughly engaging ride. Anchored by a devoted cast, Wolf Man finds Whannell adding some laudable new twists to the genre, even if it comes at the expense of some proper scares.
Wolf Man is now playing in theaters.
Rating: ★★★ ½ of five
By Luis Zonenberg
While it was a surprise that John Cena was not approached for Leigh Whannell’s Invisible Man, it was sad to see Ryan Gosling drop out for his latest film. With Wolf Man, Whanell takes a second stab at adapting a Universal Classic monster film with far less successful results. The main problem though here surprisingly seems to be committing to actually making it a Wolf-Man movie.
The story focuses on Blake Lovell (Christopher Abbott) taking his family up to his childhood home after his father, Grady (Sam Jaeger), was officially declared deceased. On the ride up, they are attacked by an unknown animal and lock themselves in the house for protection. Blake suffers a severe injury from the attack and soon falls ill, slowly transforming into a monstrous figure as his wife, Charlotte(Julia Garner), works to protect their daughter, Ginger (Matilda Firth), from the unknown threat.
The overall story is very well-written, adding some nice body horror elements and cleverly treats this case of lycanthropy like an actual disease. Just as the trailers teased, the audience is able to see Blake’s changing perspective as his sense of hearing and smell sharpen. With his marriage on the line and another wolf-man roaming outside, the danger is clear while the emotions are set to ride high for the finale.
While it would have been cool to see Gosling in the lead role, Abbott does a nice portrayal of a man slowly losing his grip on humanity. Garner and Firth also rise to the occasion and help anchor the movie as his supporting family. The rest of the cast though seemed to struggle with either how serious or strange their characters had to be whenever they appeared in the film.
I will note that the VFX are remarkable though, and cleverly combine practical prosthetics and makeup with CGI rather seamlessly. The only clunky part seemed to be in the main design of the actual “Wolf-Man” and it was rather disappointing. What was supposed to be a giant animalistic presence instead came across as more of a shirtless junkie who failed to shave off his chest hair.
The only other main problem here was that the actual transformation took up most of the story, almost like this was a twisted update on Cronenberg’s the Fly. Instead, there is a different Wolf-Man running amuck and providing most of the scares before the father actually transforms. While the charm of the actors and laudable story additions kept me engaged, I still found myself disappointed by this and the “twist” in the third act did not help much either.
This movie feels like a marriage with no commitment as the overall story focuses more on the actual transformation rather than diving into the howling results. While these problems do hinder the film, more than enough elements worked to create a thoroughly engaging ride. Anchored by a devoted cast, Wolf Man finds Whannell adding some laudable new twists to the genre, even if it comes at the expense of some proper scares.
Wolf Man is now playing in theaters.
Rating: ★★★ ½ of five
