Wolf Man

This film is just alright, maybe a little better than that. But it's nothing to write home about: close, but no cigar.

It plays it too safe. Just when you think something interesting is going to transpire, it doesn't. The film is an adaptation of a decades-old story, and yet it doesn't break any new ground nor offer up any new ideas.

The cinematography and acting are the two standouts. The presentation of the Oregonian outdoors is beautiful, as is the use of lighting throughout. Abbott and Garner turn in great performances, but the actress playing their daughter is not very good to the point that she often took me out of the film. The film felt like it was leading up to something really climactic, but didn't really. Ultimately it ends up feeling rather generic. There are a few jump scares and creepy imagery, but overall it isn't all that scary.

That said, the film is worth checking out if you're looking for an entertaining, spooky little time. The runtime is short, and it clips along pretty nicely.

From the director of The Invisible Man comes a reboot of yet another Universal Classic Monster, this time offering a modern spin on the studio's lycanthropic franchise. But unlike his impressive last feature, Wolf Man fails to create any sort of intrigue or interest, is formulaic & forgettable in every possible way, and makes for a bland, banal & boring offering with nothing worth investing into.

Co-written & directed by Leigh Whannell (Insidious: Chapter 3 & Upgrade), the premise is paper-thin, characters are poorly sketched & devoid of personality and the plot is predictable from afar with not many (or any) surprises in store. And if that's not enough, the sappy melodrama & lame dialogues don't do the film any favour either. And the ride is furthermore hampered by its lack of suspense.

There is no sense of direction to where the plot is headed, the family unit isn't developed enough and the horror set pieces also lack the expected ferocity & flesh-tearing carnage. Performances are lifeless, and even the werewolf design fails to impress. Whannell intended to address themes of parenting, marriage, sickness & death here but for those to work, the fundamentals needed to be solid which isn't the case here.

Overall, Wolf Man is ineffective in its storytelling, flat in its execution and underdeveloped as a whole. Terribly directed, shoddily scripted, tediously paced & weakly acted, there's nothing that clicks here nor is there anything to latch onto, thus resulting in a finished product that has no bite. An uneven, uninspiring & underwhelming reimagining that's not only devoid of tension & scares but is also lacking in narrative & emotional depth.

I appreciated the simplicity of the story which allowed the directing, atmosphere, cinematography and soundtrack to really be at the forefront in their storytelling.

These elements of the film made a somewhat simple story engaging and beautiful to look at on the big screen. Even for a horror movie I was surprised with the strength of the characters, family bond and overall theme of the film especially with the connection to the prior events in the past.

However, I felt the film could've been a bit more bold, took more risks and try to be inventive. Especially with the director's previous film's "upgrade" and "the invisible man" which took some risks which definitely paid off in some great and memorable moments. I just thought that the conclusion to the film teetered on lacklustre.

However, I was happy that the film did not become too over the top and cheesy in which some horror films that have come out recently have. As stated before, the simplicity of the story allowed us to focus on the characters relationship and the atmospheric setting.

All in all a solid horror film to begin the 2025 campaign however, I think a bolder final act could've made it more memorable.

Leigh Whannell's reimagining of The Wolf Man is moderately entertaining. But, ultimately, it falls short of the levels of suspense, creativity and energy achieved in his 2020 remake of The Invisible Man starring Elisabeth Moss and Aldis Hodge. It also pales in comparison to 2010's The Wolf Man directed by Joe Johnston and starring Benicio del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt, and Hugo Weaving.

For starters, the film's script is devoid of nuance, a problem highlighted by instance after instance of unimaginative dialogue that really could have benefited from a punch-up or two prior to principle photography. From start to finish, each character in the movie more or less says exactly what they're feeling. As a result, the viewer is consistently denied the emotional reward derived from dialogue that requires a certain level of maturity and investment in order to connect with what the actors are attempting to convey nonverbally.

Next, Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner lack onscreen chemistry and are not very believable as a married couple. Additionally, the lack of physical resemblance between actor Sam Jaeger and Abbott, who are cast as father and son in this film, is a bit distracting.

The biggest problem related to casting, however, is Garner. She seems out of her depth in this project and is neither convincing nor sympathetic as the story's forlorn wife and mother.

However, child actress Matilda Firth delivers a strong performance that mitigates some of the aforementioned casting issues. Very talented.

On the technical side, the movie's cinematography is rather flat, devoid of light, contrast and vibrance. In all fairness, this is a problem that's been common among a number of horror projects shot in recent years. Even non-horror projects like Gladiator II, directed by a filmmaker known for crafting beautiful, visually dynamic motion pictures, have fallen victim to this current trend of drab lighting. So, no real surprise there.

On another positive note (in addition to Firth's performance), Wolf Man, much like The Invisible Man (2020), features outstanding sound design. The movie's sound does a lot of the heavy lifting during the story's most suspenseful moments. In light of this, the entire sound department deserves an immense amount of credit and recognition for their work on this project.

So, in short, not as good a movie as I'd hoped for, but by no means bad. I'll definitely watch it again at home when it's available.

What unbreakable did for super heroes movies, Wolf-man did for werewolf movies. Its execution felt similar. But much like Unbreakable I believe the reviews will dip lower than this movie deserves to be. I remember people hating Unbreakable because of the slowness and "seeming" anti-climactic nature of it but over time people began to realize the brilliance of it. This feels similar. The tension is great and atmosphere spot on. I kept waiting for a cringy or overtop moment make me roll my eyes but it never did and stayed the course it was on. Not the modern American werewolf in London I've been searching for but definitely an emerald I didn't expect to find while mining for diamonds. Go see it.