In fact, I was a little trepidatious with this one. I haven’t seen the original, so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I’d caught wind of the fact that it focuses on parental trauma —specifically, fathers—which can be pretty triggering for me. I was expecting it to be something like “Antlers” (produced by Guillermo del Toro, 2021), a film that touches upon similar themes, and one that I found very emotive.
‘Wolf Man’ Feels Rushed
Well, friends, I really do hate to be the bearer of bad news (it’s rare that I give a poor review), but I really struggled with this, and not because it was triggering. In my opinion, “Wolf Man” felt rushed, underdeveloped, and lacking in substance. Don’t get me wrong; the elements were all there, but they just didn’t quite fit, and it left me feeling confused, disappointed and unfortunately, a little bored.
It all started off promising. Set in remote woods in Oregon, the opening credits tease us with the tale of a hiker gone missing years past, rumoured to have become a ‘wolf man’. We’re then introduced to a young Blake (Zac Chandler) and his father, Grady (Sam Jaeger), hunting in the woods, where they encounter a wolf-like creature that hunts them down. The scenes here are arguably some of the film’s most tense, although the opportunity for a good jump scare or two is sadly missed.
Fast forward and we meet adult Blake (Christoper Abbott) who’s since moved away to the big city and settled down with his family, Charlotte (Julia Garner) and Ginger (Matilda Firth), albeit with marital complications. After receiving the confirmation of his father’s death, he decides that this is the perfect occasion for them to take a family trip to Oregon to pack up his father’s things (sounds lovely—I can’t imagine a better vacation plan, myself). I won’t spoil the rest of the story, but I’m sure it doesn’t take a genius to work out that Blake and his family eventually come across the fabled ‘Wolf Man.’
A Strong Potential that Doesn’t Deliver
So, there we have it: the stage is set, with potential for a strong, fresh take on the werewolf genre. Then how, and why, I hear you ask, does the film not quite deliver? Well, from the get-go, it’s fairly evident where the story is going to go; in fact, within the first 20-30 minutes we’d already sussed most of the plot which left little to no surprises. I also think Whannel made the grave error that many do in showing the ‘monster’ FAR too soon (and, sadly, in a not particularly imaginative way). There were one or two initial teasers that worked well, but that period of uncertainty and intrigue, where you’re not quite sure what’s coming, needed to be drawn out for longer.
Another large drawback for me was the lack of context and overall build up. There were some moments between family members that could have been genuinely heartfelt, yet there simply hadn’t been enough of a backstory provided for them to really hit home. Because the film relies so heavily on these moments—for me, the werewolf aspect was in many ways secondary to what we were really meant to be taking away—it just fell flat and evoked little emotional response. And whilst I never like to criticise or call out actors individually, I did feel that the acting was a little out of place in some pretty key scenes.
Unfortunately Lacks Ingenuity
And sometimes it doesn’t matter if your characters are a little two dimensional, or if you’re thrown into the plot without much backstory. Heck, some films do this really effectively. But, if you’re sacrificing plot and context, you have got to provide viewers with plenty of action to pique their interest—especially for a werewolf movie—and ‘Wolf Man’ just did not deliver, nor offer anything remotely new or exciting for the genre. Even the physical appearance and character of the ‘Wolf Man’ itself lacked ingenuity and had little to no fear factor.
It’s always a shame when you come to the end of a movie, with the end credits rolling, and you sit there feeling deflated and disappointed. And usually, I can at least find some positive aspects to comment on, but I’m really drawing blanks here. The kindest thing I can possibly say is that the components were there—truly—yet it simply needed a second (or maybe even third) draft of the script to give it a little more depth and originality.
