Wolf Man Review: A Throw Away Adaptation!
The iconic movie monsters such as Dracula, Frankenstein, and The Invisible Man have maintained a level of fame and draw from audiences who grew up watching the films with the parents or late at night on cable television. The timeless nature of these characters allow for constant adaptation and renditions of their stories to adhere to modern audiences in a way that brings their personalities and thematic material to a new, fitting level. The Wolf Man is known as one of the famous movie monsters, the story of a man transforming into a werewolf, losing all sense of humanity in favor of more animalistic tendencies.
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After the success of The Invisible Man, starring Elisabeth Moss, the idea of The Wolf Man being explored by Whannell in a new light was exciting. In spite of its already established character and story going for it, Wolf Man goes through the motions in a first draft manner, failing to enhance its story in any meaningful way beyond a man becoming what he fears the most.
Blake Lovell (Christopher Abbott) and his father used to hunt together in the Oregon mountains when he was a child, learning along the way of a mysterious creature that is said to lurk in the forest. Fearing his father’s serious and protective ways, Blake leaves at age 18 and creates his own life in San Francisco with his now wife Charlotte (Julia Garner) and daughter Ginger (Matilda Firth).
When he receives a death certificate for his father and a key to their old cabin in Oregon, Blake decides to take his family on a trip in hopes of reconciling his strained marriage with Charlotte, who works more than she is home with Ginger. Upon their drive, they find themselves stranded in the forest after a crash with the strange inclination that they may not be alone.
Run. #WolfManMovie is NOW PLAYING in theaters.
Get tickets now: https://t.co/NQD0ITeERo pic.twitter.com/hjwXuI8qRs— Wolf Man (@WolfManMovie25) January 17, 2025
Where Wolf Man pose possible developments in its story of a man trying to escape the fate of transforming into the same man his father was, the film instead takes its time to uncover to its characters what is going on in the forest upon their crash. As the title suggests, the audience is always ahead of Blake, Charlotte, and Ginger, with little to grasp onto thematically or cinematically to make up for its slog.
Blake’s slow transformation into the Wolf Man is overtaken by constant running and fighting sequences between the family and the other Wolf Man who turned Blake. It adheres to cat and mouse horror conventions without any real tension being created.
The film’s underdeveloped characters make it difficult to sympathize with their predicament or take any real interest in their fates. Although Julia Garner is always a great actress, Charlotte is a flat portrayal of a workaholic woman who struggles to balance her position with her role as a mother to Ginger. As a result, seeing Ginger and Charlotte stick together as Blake transforms doesn’t feel emotional, rather it feels inevitable simply because they are mother and daughter.
It’s Julia’s world, we’re all just living in it. Experience Wolf Man, now playing in theaters pic.twitter.com/YU4chQZACw
— Blumhouse (@blumhouse) January 21, 2025
The film fails to build a connection between the two as they navigate a terrifying situation aside from the obvious journey to survival. Blake starts off as a worthwhile character to follow as we see him as a devoted father, hoping to bury his angry tendencies passed to him by his father. However, once he begins to transform the metaphor becomes obvious in a way that fails to enhance the connection between him and his father as it relates to his actions towards his own family.
The movie’s greatest downfall is its lighting. Once the family drives to Oregon and the sun fades into dusk, the rest of the film happens at night to mirror the darkness the family will be facing through Blake’s transformation. However, Wolf Man is one film where it becomes impossible to see what is going on in some scenes despite being in a pitch black movie theater. Darkness in a film should never translate to lighting that makes it hard for the audience to see. There are sequences where the film changes to Blake’s point of view, where his sight looks ultraviolet, allowing his visions to appear like night vision.
Every time the film switches to this view (which is sparingly) it is a wonder why the filmmakers did not maintain his view for more of the film, as they were some of the only scenes where the audience could get a good view of any action on screen. It is a shame that Wolf Man struggles thematically, visionally, and through its writing. As a result, it becomes just another throw away adaptation of a popular monster without a level of care for the material at hand.
‘Wolf Man’ Rating – 2/5
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