Wolf Man (2025)
A Howling Shame
Wolf Man is the latest attempt to revive a venerable franchise that dates back several decades. Lon Chaney Jr. made the role his own in a series of movies in the 1940s. Numerous Wolf Man films have come and gone since then, but none were able to recapture the early success.
So, does the 2025 Wolfman movie successfully revive the series? Unfortunately, no.
Blake (Christopher Abbott) is a writer mired in a strained marriage with his wife, Charlotte (Julia Garner). After receiving a death certificate for his estranged father, Blake decides to go on vacation to his remote woodsy childhood home.
He’s hoping the trip will repair his relationship with Charlotte and allow himself to spend more time with his young daughter, Ginger (Matilda Firth).
Instead, Blake gets bitten by a mysterious monster and gradually transforms into a hairy beast. Charlotte and Ginger are confused and terrified by his changing appearance and behavior. Can they save themselves before it’s too late?
A Letdown Compared to Past Efforts
Wolf Man doesn’t come close to living up to Leigh Whannell’s previous Universal monster movie, The Invisible Man. He tries to tackle the story from a body horror angle, but the script never gives us a reason to care about the characters.
There’s no depth to any of them. All are bland and generic. This movie is a paint by numbers effort, especially in terms of characterization. The performances are fine, but the actors aren’t given much material to work with.
Too much time is spent on the transformation process. Wolf Man would have been more interesting if Blake had fully transformed in the first half of the movie. It takes way too long, especially since virtually every viewer knows where the story is headed.
The film puts a strong emphasis on Blake’s relationship with his daughter. There’s plenty of scenes that are supposed to pull at our heart strings, but their bond feels perfunctory.
There’s no emotional core to this movie. The father-daughter bond should be a strong thematic element. Instead, it comes across as a calculated effort to manipulate the audience.
Another major issue is the appearance of the werewolves. There’s nothing about these wolf men that are particularly scary or intriguing. Wolf Man 2025 would have been enhanced significantly with more effective and creative creature designs.
This movie is flat and half-hearted. It’s like Leigh Whannell felt an obligation to Universal to direct the film, but didn’t really have his heart in it. He’s a very good director, but this one just feels off.
Rating
Wolf Man is a bland entry into a franchise that’s best days are long behind it.
Rating from 1 (avoid at all costs) to 10 (masterpiece): 4
