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Issue date: 3/1/10 Section: Entertainment

The movie poster for "The Wolfman"

"The Wolfman," in concept, has all the elements of a great horror movie. There is a scary mansion, mysterious gypsies, gory killing, and people transforming into giant wolf monsters. Too bad there is no real plot, weak acting, and an ending you can predict from 15 minutes into the movie.

The basic plot is Lawrence, played by Benicio Del Toro, is called to his childhood home by his brother's fiancé, Gwen, played by Emily Blunt. His brother is missing and Lawrence must return to see his crazy father, played by Anthony Hopkins, who lives in a scary, dirty old mansion filled with stuffed game animals.

Lawrence is haunted by memories of his mother's suicide and his time in an asylum. His brother's mangled body is found and Lawrence investigates the murder.

Anyone who has seen the trailer knows that Lawrence is bitten by the werewolf and turns at the full moon. After this, nothing of substance happens. Lawrence runs around as a werewolf and the Scotland Yard chases after him.

The big twist at the end is unsurprising and a line uttered by an old gypsy woman 20 minutes in predicts the final scene. Basically, there is 30 minutes of plot stretched over a two-hour long movie.

There is also a romance between Lawrence and Gwen, his dead brother's fiancée. Del Toro and Blunt have no chemistry and neither gives a convincing performance. The romance is awkward to watch, as you know Gwen was in love with Lawrence's brother just a few weeks ago, and now she is pledging her undying love to Lawrence.

The worst part of the movie is how slow it is. There are several points in the movie where you think it is going to end, but is ust keeps going and going. Cutting the movie by half of an hour would have helped immensely. The one redeeming element is the special effects. The makeup is done by Hollywood legend Rick Baker. His makeup is fantastic, and if werewolves were real, they would look like his creations. The transformation scenes are frightening and gross. There is also lots of gore and violence. If you want to see dismemberment and disemboweling, this is the movie for you.

However, the special effects wizardry can only take a movie so far. With a weak plot, poor acting, and no surprises, "The Wolfman" will leave you howling for it to end.

1.5 out of 5 stars

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