Cryptophiles the world over rejoiced as the rumour that the lore was about to be restored was spread. True horror geeks pulled out their furry suits and others wondered if it was okay to shave down their Chewbacca gear a tad bit to mod it off.
And lo! Before the popcorn was up and the fizz in the soda died, the plot was predicted. The storyline had nothing new, and the barest minimum of lycanthropy know-how would easily have been a spoiler alert, rendering the movie an overall clichй label.
That said, in this age of vapid, Volvo-driving vampires, it would have been great to see the cryptids take their place in cinematic history. And this is perhaps where it will remain. The Wolfman is a cinematic, semiotic minefield of intertextual references and styles. Stylistically a treatise in the High Gothic in a manner which only added weight to any imaginings of Emily Bronte's misty moors. The movie was true to it's Victorian setting and never waived or deviated in its path.
There's a definite feel of it being the cinematic V2.0 of From Hell and Sleepy Hollow, but it did not have the caricature like characters of either movies. There's a very big distinction with the lack of melodrama found in Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula, but the acting had some of the grace (not all of it, but enough) of Neil Jordan's Interview with the Vampire. The movie is symbol laden for those who like digging and the symbols are often very obvious Victorian Gothic ones, the Werewolf itself is a symbol of lust and unrestrained passion, which is often luke warm between Del Torro and Blunt. Despite the storyline being predictable at best, there are no well developed characters, there are no moments when you wonder what's going through a character's head. All you need to think is what's in front of you. Which is why you need to buy a large popcorn, before you get in.The problem there though, is that at 100 minutes and not much to be gripped by, you might end up with more popcorn than movie at the end.
I will be getting this one on DVD, not because it's particularly brilliant, but because it's a much needed movie when Werewolves have been so maligned by Hollywood. And it's a very, very pretty film from a directorial and photographic point of view. Looks aren't everything, and this rake thin model of a film needed some more flesh. |
