Dir. Joe Johnston, USA, 125mins, 2010
Cast: Benicio Del Toro, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Hugo Weaving, Emily Blunt
Review by Matthew Rodgers
There is a moment early on in Universals cursed re-imagining of the classic monster mash in which Anthony Hopkins deliciously delivers the line “never look back, the past is a wilderness of horrors” . For that is what it has been for the studios historical beasties since their heydey. Kenneth Branagh couldn't stitch together Frankenstein to be more than the sum of its rotting parts, and Stephen Sommers turned both The Mummy and Van Helsing's villainous potential into little more than live-action computer games. So after 2 years in post-production, with release dates shunted back more often that the lunar cycle occurs, it's finally full enough to unleash Benicio's beast.
The plot isn't much to speak of, sticking to a tried and tested formula that harks back to the creature's origin. Lawrence Talbot (Del Toro) returns to his estranged familial mansion at the behest of his murdered brothers widow (Blunt) after years treading the boards across the globe. At odds with his father (Hopkins), it's quickly established that his sibling was involved with gypsy trading and is one of a number of people to disappear whilst out on the moors, a fate that he narrowly avoids himself after being attacked by a particularly nasty lycanthrope. But we all know what this means, Talbot will soon need more than a triple bladed razor once the moon is full.
It's hard to see why this was shelved for so long because it's an incredibly entertaining and immensely enjoyable horror that has so much going for it.
For starters, how could a cast like this not deliver? Del Toro is brilliantly broody, perfect for the role as the insular outsider burdened with a horrific condition. It's a performance that only falters once the script gives way to spectacle over myth making. Hopkins is also on scene stealing form, hamming it up as the wisened, gun toting patriarch alongside a muted Blunt, whose relationship with Del Toro is of the Mills & Boon, lengthily stare variety, and Hugo Weaving as the Scotland Yard detective, delivering each line with that laconic drawl of his.
Rent-a-hack director Johnston (Jurassic Park III) also steps up when it comes to the action stakes. The transformation sequence isn't a patch on Rick Bakers Werewolf in London metamorphosis and is perhaps the only visual letdown with its cartoonish rendition, but elsewhere; from the old-school look of the beast to the gloriously gory attacks – the onslaught on the gypsy encampment is electric – its terrific stuff, enough to get you howling with approval.
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