43
Metascore
36 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 75Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsChicago TribuneMichael PhillipsDoggedly, or rather wolfishly, the film doesn't go in for camp or mirth, at least until its misjudged and semi-endless wolf-on-wolf climax.
- 63ObserverRex ReedObserverRex ReedBut the direction by Joe Johnston (Honey, I Shrunk the Kids) sacrifices originality for computer graphics and stop-motion camera tricks, and the script, by Andrew Kevin Walker and David Self, bulges with real howlers: “I didn’t know you hunted monsters.” “Sometimes monsters hunt you!”
- 63Orlando SentinelRoger MooreOrlando SentinelRoger MooreThe matter-of-fact way everybody involved faces this supernatural horror drains most of the chills right out of it.
- 63Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertThe Wolfman avoids what must have been the temptation to update its famous story. It plants itself securely in period, with a great-looking production set in 1891.
- 60Boxoffice MagazineRay GreeneBoxoffice MagazineRay GreeneBenicio Del Toro looks even more like Lon Chaney Sr. than Chaney Jr. did, and he’s a far better actor than the previous Wolf Man.
- 50Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzArizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzThe movie plays like a missed opportunity, with its by-the-numbers scares and a story that feels disjointed, hurried in some places, slow in others.
- 50Chicago ReaderJ.R. JonesChicago ReaderJ.R. JonesThis is fairly satisfying, particularly a ghoulish episode in a Victorian insane asylum.
- 40The Hollywood ReporterMichael RechtshaffenThe Hollywood ReporterMichael RechtshaffenNot bad enough to be considered a camp, guilty pleasure, it's more of a dull, defanged dirge with the reliably intriguing Benicio Del Toro and Anthony Hopkins turning in oddly disaffected performances.
- 40VarietyTodd McCarthyVarietyTodd McCarthyThe constant repetition of these shock tactics, in lieu of genuine suspense, makes The Wolfman feel cheap, despite the vast amounts obviously spent on Rick Heinrichs' opulent production design, the extensive visual effects, the more-than-effective special makeup effects, Milena Canonero's luxurious costumes, Danny Elfman's insistent score and the tony cast.
- 40Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovAustin ChronicleMarc SavlovThere's plenty of doom, gloom, and outright despair on hand here but very little genuine human emotion.