The Wolfman (2010)

I picked this DVD to watch tonight. It's one The Husband, The Younger Son and I have been meaning to see. The Wolfman is a 2010 remake of the 1941 Lon Chaney, Jr. classic. It does take significant liberties with the original film. This one stars Benicio del Toro in the Lon Chaney role, Anthony Hopkins as his father, Emily Blunt as the love interest (in this one she's the fiancee of the recently deceased elder brother) and Hugo Weaving plays a detective from Scotland Yard. Danny Elfman did the music. I liked it. I will say I liked it best as it adhered more closely to the original and liked it less the more it strayed.

trailer:

Moria gives a mixed review and closes by saying that "for what it aims for, The Wolfman achieves modestly and effectively." The New York Times does not like it. DVD Talk doesn't like it either, closing its review with this:

Because, you know, a werewolf is about an Id unleashed, howling at the moon, tearing stuff up. The Wolfman is none of these things. It's timid and boring. It's a pretty lady in a bodice that never gets ripped. It howls, but it does so quietly, afraid that someone might hear. The Wolfman is a quarter moon kind of movie, not a full one.

Roger Ebert gives it a generally positive review except for the special effects. The Guardian gives it a lowly 2 out of a possible 5 stars. EW says

Del Toro, with his melancholy-brute features, endows this raging beast with some of the ''Why me?'' poignance you may remember from Lon Chaney Jr.'s performance in the original. Lawrence, you see, has no desire to be a werewolf. He doesn't get off on the power of the dark side; he just wants to be free of it. And that lends The Wolfman, hokey and uneven though it is, the kind of authentic emotional hook that too many horror movies today don't have.