Give the guy a break will ya?

BEYOND THIS POINT ARE SPOILERS…TURN BACK IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE FILM OR CARE ABOUT CHARACTER AND PLOT POINTS BEING REVEALED…

After reading a few of the reviews for The Wolfman, I felt compelled to follow a small follow-up to them and to my previous review.

Again let me state that while I enjoyed The Wolfman, I am aware that it’s not a perfect movie. I saw the film twice over the weekend and had a fun time of it despite its flaws. I am also not about to fault reviewers for disliking the movie simply because I liked it. However, every now and again I read something that makes me wonder if they really watched the film at all. Here are a few things I came across:

• One reviewer complained about Del Toro’s accent or lack thereof. He wondered why he didn’t sound English.

Those of you who were paying attention would remember that Lawrence mentions being sent away to live with his aunt in America at a very young age. It wouldn’t be out of line to suppose he had some schooling while there. He’d also spent the majority of his life there, so it would be no big wonder if his hometown accent had faded in favour of something a bit more American-ized.

• Another review said that Hopkins phoned-in his role and put almost no emotion into it.

Again, in the movie this is mentioned. Sir John Talbot tells Lawrence to look into his eyes and says quite bluntly that “as you can see I’m quite dead”. The character is dead emotionally and that’s how Hopkins played it.

A few other miscellaneous complaints included:

• It wasn’t scary.

I expected this sentiment long before the film came out. Modern horror movies have upped the ante on body counts and gore for years now, and audiences on the whole have been desensitized by it. They want to have scares without really having to think about it. I for one appreciate a movie that doesn’t go full-steam ahead towards the “more blood is better” attitude. I feel that the real scare behind the Wolfman isn’t the atrocities the creature commits, but what the man who becomes the creature goes through.

• It was all gore and no substance.

Maybe you should have a chat with the people who didn’t think there was enough gore and come to some sort of decision.

• The film didn’t go anywhere unexpected.

Okay, so who missed the part about this being a remake? Also, how many films these days really go somewhere unexpected. It’s not always about if it’s new, but how it’s told.

Seriously, if you didn’t like the movie, you didn’t like the movie. I get it. The wonderful thing is that you don’t have to. And the other wonderful thing is that I can go on ignoring you and keep having a good time at the movies.