Thursday, February 25, 2010

The Wolfman: A Classic Failure

So this one is going to hurt. Get your wolfsbane and silver bullets ready because we're about to dive into the remake of the 1941 classic film: The Wolfman.

This 2010 version stars Benicio del Toro, Emily Blunt, and Anthony Hopkins. You may also recognize the elf in charge of Rivendale from The Lord of the Rings and that guy with the glasses from The Matrix (Hugo Weaving) as the pesky inspector from Scotland Yard.

The story is similar to the original film albeit a little more boring. I'm not really sure what possessed any of these actors to be in this movie. The only one who seemed to even realize she was in a movie was Emily Blunt. That being said, one actor actually trying in a movie does not equal a whole...or something like that. That's not to say she was actually good, just that she was aware that movie was being made.

Del Toro seemed to be in constant drug induced state, Weaving just wanted a pint of bitters, and I'm fairly certain that the cameras were just following Hopkins around in "a day in the life" style.

Basically the prodigal son returns home and gets bitten by a werewolf of unknown origin. Del Toro macks on his dead brother's fiance (Blunt) while he and his father exchange meaningful glances. Weaving is sent in to investigate the town's disturbances and the villagers turn into a mindless mob. Really riveting and innovating stuff here people.

This movie took out most of the interesting parts of the original about wolfsbane and the gypsies and replaced it with some slightly disturbing scenes in an asylum which I guess were supposed to solidify the mental torture that Hopkins (the actor not his character) has inflicted upon his son over the years. The otherworldly elements were mostly ignored except for a particularly sweet montage in which Blunt furiously searches for a cure in the lycanthropy books she just happens to have lying around her antique shop? I mean who among doesn't have one or two lycanthropy coffee table books?

Spoiler Alert!!!!!: Hopkins (the person not the character) is a werewolf!! He killed his youngest son and bit Del Toro. I don't know if you get the symbolism here so I'll break it down. The son is destined to walk in his father's footsteps/the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

The movie culminates in a huge fight scene between Del Toro and Hopkins. They do the traditional werewolf in mid-air clash. I'm not sure where that tradition came from. Probably archive footage of werewolves I guess because all filmmakers seem pretty damn sure that's how a werewolf battle would go down. Both father and son die, but not before Weaving gets bit by one of them. (Seriously all the guy wanted to do was go down to the pub...damn) Do I smell the wafting aroma of a sequel?????

All in all this movie was pretty forgettable. I guess the updated effects were alright. I liked that they kept the original wolf/man style instead of the just wolf thing that Twilight seems to have taken to. When I think of a wolfman I think of a guy...that looks like a wolf, preferably wearing pin stripped pants and a white button down shirt (I would also have accepted a basketball uniform complete with sweat bands)

The minx says: A yawn of a movie. If you want to see werewolves check out the original from 1941 or the teen wolf series...a werewolf on the basketball court...freaking hilarious!

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Musical Terrors

Why do people insist on making popular Broadway musicals into feature films? I know that it worked back in the earlier part of the 20th century, but things were quaint back then...not to mention it was way harder to get to an actual theater to see a live performance. I think it is also important to mention that many of the classic movie musicals were written specifically to be shown on the screen, Cinderella for instance.

Movie musicals eventually fell out of fashion...but when exactly did they come back? Now every freakin show that gets any recognition at all is turned immediately into a movie. Some of you may remember my previous comments regarding the ridiculous attempt at Rent by Chris Columbus. Needless to say, some musicals just do not need to be made into movies. Andrew Lloyd Webber just keeps pushing the envelope on that. First with Evita starring Madonna and Antonio Banderas (nice) and then with The Phantom of the Opera (POTO). I am going to go out on a limb and say that POTO is crappiest of the two.

Like Rent, POTO seems off from the get go. Without even going into the casting, the cinematography is just crap. I think they set a world record for number of crossfades in a feature length film, and they happen in the most awkward places. "Look, there's Emmy Rossum in front of the mirror (crossfade happens)...oh there she is...still?? Nothing has happened?!??" Throw in a little fog juice and you've really got a party.

Two words: Minnie Driver. What is she doing in this movie??? 1. She can't sing. 2. She can't lip sync to someone else singing. I do kind of feel bad for her though. She's like the modern day Audrey Hepburn circa My Fair Lady except without the class and fashion sense.

So Emmy Rossum plays Christine in this rendition. I don't suppose it needs to be said that she is no Sarah Brightman. I know that the character is supposed to be like 18, but I really don't need to hear an actual 18 year old screeching out those high notes. She looks hot enough in those skimpy outfits I guess, but like in Avatar looks should not be everything.

Honestly I don't even feel like mentioning Raoul. He's pretty transparent throughout the whole thing. That speaks to his voice and his acting. Every once and a while he'll say something you actually notice...only because he says it so damn awkwardly. The dialogue between Raoul and Christine especially...is just brutal to listen to. It seriously makes me want to crawl under a rock.

I saved the best for last of course: Gerard Butler. What a Phantom...by which I mean terrible. I wasn't aware that the POTO was supposed to be a sex symbol. He's probably the worst singer of the bunch as well. They tried so desperately to cover it with reverb, with no avail. I think they wanted to hide it by shooting a lot of Christine and the Phantom grinding up against one another...which is in itself disturbing.

I don't want to go into this much more in depth, but there is one particular scene that I just have to mention. In the underground lair Christine tries to remove the Phantom's mask. I think it's pretty common knowledge that he's very badly scarred...which is why he wears the mask. She pulls it off of him and you see his whole face. He looks fine!!! They didn't even bother to put makeup on him for the scene!! WTF? If he's not scarred then why is he wearing the mask and living in the basement? Maybe he just can't afford rent. It's a metaphor for kids overstaying their welcome at home after college.

Honestly I'm sick of talking about this already. The casting doesn't make any sense, the singing ranges from mediocre at best to just atrocious, the acting is flat, the love story is disturbing, and the visuals are extremely overdone and cheesy. Please don't see this movie.

The minx says: This movie should go and hide in the basement of a Paris theater...far away from everyone for centuries to come.