Watching a Leigh Whannell movie werewolf, I thought, “Have we forgotten how to make genre films?” Films that mix genres are not meant to elevate them or, God forbid, play as some sort of homage to them. However, it is a simple and easy to understand genre movie.
In a way, I’m kidding. Jaume Collet-Serra’s continue It hasn’t even been a month yet. But I’m being semi-serious here. Have we forgotten how to make genre films without worrying about reinventing them, updating them, and improving them?I was just sitting at Whannell’s and asked, I saw it wolfmanthe second werewolf movie of the month, and very similar Werewolf, that It seems hell-bent on being the least interesting version of a werewolf movie.
So, in 2025, the year of our Lord, Leigh Whannell looked at the gothic romance of the werewolf story and said, “Werewolves are the best. “But what if we made it realistic?” We were, and are, on the worst timeline.
As much as I didn’t like it werewolf, At least I felt like I liked werewolf movies. wolfman It feels like they might feel stupid, or worse, the audience might. Whannell and his wife and co-writer Corbett Tuck set out to strip the werewolf story of all recognizable signifiers.
There are no shots of full moons, no tales of curses, no wolves, no miracle bullets, no Romanian characters spouting dire prophecies. Heck, there aren’t even real werewolves. don’t ruin it wolfman Whannell’s selling point, as it has been from the beginning, seems to have been what it would be like to watch Christopher Abbott’s Blake slowly transform into a larger-than-average Gollum throughout the film.
Most of the film takes place in Blake’s father’s old cabin. With their father missing and ultimately presumed dead, Blake, his wife Charlotte (Julia Garner), and daughter Ginger (Matilda Firth) head to the cabin to sort out their belongings. Wouldn’t you know it, after a series of unfortunate events, the trio finds themselves stranded, isolated and trapped as a mysterious wolf creature hunts them.
Whannell and Tuck make the difficult decision to keep Ginger as part of the main cast. This is a stupid decision, not because Firth is a bad actor, but because she isn’t. She does a great job considering how little Whannell and Tuck give her work. But the problem is that her presence takes something away. wolfman No matter how nervous you are.
It makes no sense in Whannell’s past work or in the modern theater world that he, Blumhouse Studios, or any of the shareholders have the wherewithal to kill children. Sure, you want to put her in danger all you want, but she has to get out alive. Children can’t go out alone, so mothers can feel safe. Blake is too busy transforming into a goblin, sorry “werewolf”, to give us precious little to keep us on the edge of our seats.
A wise director would have looked to family dynamics to convince us. To Whannell’s credit, that’s what he’s trying to do. Except there’s nothing there. The human relationships are too shallow for a secret room suspense creature story. Blake and Charlotte’s marriage is in trouble. why? I don’t understand.
I should mention that Mr. Garner is phenomenal. With her handsome features and pale blonde hair, she embodies a complex mix of vulnerability and strength, but Abbott’s personality is so flat in comparison that she is denied. But Garner’s performance could have been the centerpiece of a moody thriller. It’s a shame that she’s here wolfman.
The film opens with young Blake hunting with his father, Grady (Sam Jager). wolfman It got off to a good start, as it appeared to be an attempt to smuggle in a story about an unprepared father who loves and does his best to raise his children. Whannell is hinting at something, as Blake’s relationship with Ginger seems to be a more loving version of his relationship with his father, but his temper regularly rears its ugly head.
This similarity allows Whannell and Tuck to encounter great moments of poetic sadness. Blake explains to Ginger that sometimes parents try so hard to protect their children from the fear of the world that they end up hurting them. In more agile and observant hands, the film could have carried itself beautifully.
Rather, we’re left wondering why Abbott, Garner, and Firth are performing so well in this dire situation. Without Arjen Tuiten’s magical creature effect, wolfman It would be a waste of time. Using all the practical effects, one of the few smart decisions Whannell makes, Twiten gives Blake’s transformation a tactile feel, even if he has to hold back laughs in the final reveal. .
I saw it wolfman At my local Maya Theater, DBX Auditorium. DBX is a Maya version of Regals 4DX that basically tries to make movie watching more exciting by adding vibrating chairs, smoke, water splashes, and strobe lights. Well, at least that’s what 4DX is about. DBX is primarily just a vibrating chair, but combined with the movie’s lackluster pacing, I ended up taking a few light naps.
It also didn’t help that Maya didn’t properly light the screen in a futile attempt to conserve light bulb life, and Stefan Ducio’s dim lighting was even creepier. I have considered all of these and admit that they may have made my view worse. But if you discount the not-so-great time in the movie, what you’re left with is the movie itself, which isn’t great either.
After all, even if the movie had been properly projected and I had seen it in a regular theater, the movie would still contain the scene in which the family climbs onto the plastic shell of the greenhouse with plastic sheeting to escape from the monster. should be included. I didn’t like this movie.
Still, Ducio and Whannell have some interesting ideas. For example, how the world is shown from the perspective of Blake, who is bathed in bright blue light and unable to understand his wife and daughter as his humanity rapidly declines. But during these small moments, wolfman is a sleazy, dull, tepid monster movie that wastes a talented special effects team and tries to replace its lack of character and story with shots of the Pacific Northwest wilderness. Whannell’s other failing is that even the panoramic views of the countryside feel dull and languid.
I didn’t like it werewolf Either way, but at least there was a werewolf and a giant moon. Whatever problems I had with this movie, it felt like it wanted to be a werewolf movie. wolfman It feels like it wants to be taken seriously, but in doing so it abandons everything that makes werewolf movies beautiful. The worst crime of all is that it replaces the story’s inherent, haunting, Gothic, and tragic beauty with a shallow psychological study of a dysfunctional family.
Whannell’s attempt to rewrite a tired story is admirable. But if you’re going to do that, you’ll need something to replace it. Whannell has nothing. He removed the heart and put in its place the shadow of an idea.
Image courtesy of Universal Pictures
Do you have strong thoughts about this piece that you need to share, or would you like to discuss it with your Fandomental friends? Visit our community Join the conversation using our servers!
Source: The Fandomentals – www.thefandomentals.com
