Upon his return to his ancestral homeland, an American man (Benicio del Toro) is bitten, and subsequently cursed by, a werewolf.

A remake of this sort is caught in a no-win trap. If it tries to reinvent the story entirely, it will make some fans upset for deserting the source material. But, on the other hand, coming too close to the original will have people saying there is no way to top the original (which may be true).

Benicio del Toro was the obvious choice for the wolf man, and he plays the part well. The cinematography and atmosphere are gorgeous, and the Elfman music is appreciated (and much more subdued than many of his scores). Rick Baker won another Oscar for his makeup here, and who can argue with that?

The reviews tended to be negative. Roger Ebert, no fan of horror, gave a lukewarm review of 2.5 stars, but then had to find a flaw regardless of any praise he had: "The film has one flaw, and faithful readers will not be surprised to find it involves the CGI special effects. No doubt there are whole scenes done so well in CGI that I didn't even spot them, but when the werewolf bounds through the forest, he does so with too much speed. He would be more convincing if he moved like a creature of considerable weight."

Granted, he is spot on. When you have Baker on your crew, there is no need for CGI (or at least not very much of it). There is no shame in using it when it honestly helps, but when it stands out like a sore thumb, maybe it is time to do a few reshoots.

I read all the comments that complained about this movie not being wildly innovative and original. So I did some checking. And you know what? It turns out they were right. It seems there actually have been werewolf movies made before.

But it seems to me that those brilliant and learned film aficionados would have gone into the multiplex expecting to see something at least vaguely familiar. Why then were so many smartypants film buffs disappointed that this movie had so much in common with previous efforts based on the same story? Maybe they were expecting some tragically comic overacting like Gary Oldman in FFC's Dracula. Maybe they wanted to see another campy throwaway rehash of a Lon Chaney Jr. b-movie. What a pity. There was so much more to see.

First of all, what a treat it was to see actual actors in the movie. Little needs to be said about Sir Anthony Hopkins. His icy, reptilian portrayals of villains are legendary, and he does not disappoint here. I'm not a huge Emily Blunt fan, but her range and beauty are pleasing grace notes in everything she does. And Hugo Weaving? How many more times does he have to hit it out of the park before he finally gets the recognition he deserves?

But I, for one, went to see this movie for one reason. Benicio Del Toro. And I was not disappointed, although I was mildly surprised. Del Toro has just the right blend of handsome charm and animal presence to be convincing. His portrayal, while subtly understated, is also powerfully nuanced. The surprise was how well the diverse talents in the movie melded into an ensemble. Oh, so tasty.

The coup de grâce, however, is also the one thing that probably spoils this movie for most viewers. It finally takes a literary approach to what was once, and now is once again, a towering and epic literary tragedy, rather than a campy life support system for meaningless computer-generated special effects. Using Rick Baker was a stroke of genius. His masterful use of prosthetics and physical transformations gifted this movie with an elegance and immediacy so lacking in generations of poseur imitators.

Freed from the usual addiction to hokey visual effects, the movie is able to develop, with subtlety and sophistication, the tragic richness of the story. True literary tragedy depends on one simple premise. The tragic character must fall from grace, by no fault of his own, due to his inherent character flaw. The tragic character must ultimately be a victim, and his fall must be inevitable.

Our protagonist's path was determined long before he arrived on the moors. As he struggles heroically to overcome his own destiny, we witness the inevitability of his demise. This is the sine qua non of literary tragedy. Even American Werewolf in London got this right, deliciously and hilariously right, in fact, and this film is fraught with allusions to AWIL and other classics.

The cinematography is beautiful. The score is brooding, and not nearly as derivative as it might have been. I am so glad that Danny Elfman's score was reinstated. Elfman can do no wrong. Joe Jonhson's direction is at once effortless and masterful.

In short, if you are looking for a special effects cesspool like Twilight, stay home. If you want to see how a Gothic literary classic comes to life in the twenty-first century, this is your film.

The Wolfman is a remake of the 1941 Universal Pictures horror film as Lawrence Talbot (Benicio del Toro) returns to England and be with his father (Anthony Hopkins) after his brother has been killed in the countryside. There is talk of some gypsy curse.

Lawrence wants to find out how his brother died as he is haunted with memories of the death of his mother. He has a strange sense with the relationship with his father and one night he is attacked by a wolf and later on there is a full moon.

The film is big budget with good special effects used to recreate Victorian London but the film is oddly paced, it starts off slow although the actions scenes are fast paced.

Del Toro looks perfect casting as Talbot and reminds you somewhat of Lon Chaney Jr but to me he never convinces me as an Englishman. Hopkins on the other hand oozes villainy, he is too obvious a bad guy here that there is very little surprise as to who the werewolf could be. Emily Blunt is the standard and rather blank love interest and Hugo Weaving injects spirit and a little humour as the police inspector on the chase.

However the film disappoints the screenplay is just too plain and dull. Even the werewolf transformation does not look special anymore as we have seen something similar so many times since An American werewolf in London. The vicious and visceral battle scene at the climax of the film is good though.