They keep telling us that a new wolfman film is on the way, one that shows great promise but until this trailer, I was starting to think they were pulling our leg and then this trailer comes along and boom! All of a sudden it’s clear that the reason for the release date shuffle is to monopolize boxoffice rather than any worry that the film sucks.
Directed by Oscar winning visual effects expert Joe Johnston (he has also directed Hidalgo, October Sky and Jumanji), The Wolf Man plays out a little like Dracula.
Benicio Del Toro is Lawrence Talbot, a man who is bitten by a werewolf and is, subsequently, turned into one himself. Emily Blunt is Gwen Conliffe, his romantic interest and the woman who runs away from the monster Talbot turns into while Hugo Weaving plays Aberline, a detective trying to sort out what exactly is going on. The film also includes Anthony Hopkins Talbot’s father, a man who, I assume, holds the key to all the secrets.
Aside from the fact that the film stars a great cast, the reason to see this is for the werewolf transformations. Though there may not be a whole lot of love for Underworld, one of the things the film did well was the werewolf transformations and aside from Gingersnaps, it’s been a few decades since John Landis amazed us with his work. Johnston obviously knows what he’s doing and the trailer suggest that this project doesn’t simply look nice, it also features some pretty spiffy effects.
The Wolf Man opens on February 10, 2010.
Wow. Color me surprised and excited! I’ve been posting images from this movie since my moviepatron days and to be honest I haven’t been too anticipatory of this… until now. This looks friggin’ fabulous. It has a similar aesthetic to “Brotherhood of the Wolf” (different DP though – Shelly Johnson).
I think this looks like terrifically good fun.
Fine, I’ll be the only person on the Internet to say it, this trailer looks fucking awful. The overacting is shamelessly bad and I’ll be stunned if the film can actually stand up under the weight of it. And for all those whining about the CGI look of Avatar, where the hell are the complaints for Wolfman?
lol – am I still on the pass list for tonight?
Have you watched District 9 again?
Well, this trailer had me to the montage of the last few minute, one CGI shot looking worse that I AM LEGEND.
It still looks more real and tactile than Avatar though.
Suck it Gamble.
Really, Matt? Should I start calling you Armond White here? This looks great and, like in all great monster movies, the overacting is a necessity! I’m looking forward to this one.
Matt, are you really gonna judge the acting based on a trailer? What performances, there were lines.
If you’re really going to pass judgement on these “performances” then it damages your credibility.
This looks great and, like in all great monster movies, the overacting is a necessity!
Overacting is necessary in monster movies? Since when?
Matt, are you really gonna judge the acting based on a trailer? What performances, there were lines.
That were delivered horribly. Hopkins is clearly hamming it up and Benicio isn’t far behind, and since the tone of the trailer implies this film is to be taken seriously, that means that you could have a serious disconnect between the director and actor’s intentions for the material. That makes for a messy film. And that doesn’t even begin to go into all of the other production issues this film has had.
I’m not judging the performances, but the trailer gives no evidence that this film is going to be anything better then the mess the studio has admitted it is.
Just because people didn’t like the Avatar trailer doesn’t mean this is a good one.
Don’t question me. I made that up to sound intelligent.
@ I’m not judging the performances
it kind of seems like you are.
Well I was laughing at the acting in the trailer. That seemed contradictory to the intention of the trailer. But as I’m sure you will, and should, point out, the trailer is not the film.
So maybe the movie is supposed to be more of a hokey, overly melodramatic style horror film. That may not be a bad thing. I just don’t have much faith that they pulled it off.
The trailer looks better than I expected but still am a bit leary on it. Feels like it has a fair dose of Sleepy Hollow included.
In terms of acting, ANTHONY HOPKINS is ALWAYS hamming it up. This sums up the actor completely, he usually turns me off in films for this very reason.
Still, far more excited for Wolfman than Avatar. Suck it.
In terms of acting, ANTHONY HOPKINS is ALWAYS hamming it up.
Lying doesn’t help prove your point Halfyard.
Benicio Del Toro looks great in this, I don’t see your point Matt.
What I love about this trailer is that it looks like an old Universal horror movie, but with a bit of Hammer Films thrown in for good measure. Personally, I don’t think Benicio is hamming it in the trailer. I thought he did fairly well. I mean, we’re not talking Bela Lugosi in Dracula here (sorry to his fans, but I think he overacted in that whole movie…). At any rate, Benicio looks a lot like Lon Chaney Jr. and his acting seems to me to fit an old fashioned horror movie.
I love it when I am right.