The Wolfman brings nothing new or terribly unique to the werewolf genre, but still manages to be a decently entertaining and suspenseful movie.

Lawrence (Del Toro) returns home to help find out who or what brutally murdered his brother.  He manages to get bitten by the beast and now suffers with werewolf fever every full moon.  He's also suffering with an attraction to his late brother's fiance (Blunt).

With such a star-studded cast, I really had high hopes that this film would be excellent.  While Del Toro does a nice job as a tortured soul, the rest of the acting is nothing spectacular.  The plot is not very innovative either, but it is a solid, interesting story with a small, albeit obvious, twist.  What the film makers do best though is maintain a serious amount of tension throughout the entire movie.  While there were too many jumps for my heart, I can't deny their effectiveness.

The special effects were fantastic during transformation and did an excellent job at building suspense.  One scene in the insane asylum is particularly memorable.  Unfortunately once we see the actual werewolf I had a really difficult time maintaining my sense of fear.  Honestly, all I could think about was how much he looked like Teen Wolf.  It's hard to stay scared when you think the monster might van surf at any moment.

So How Does It End?

The "big twist" is that Lawrence's father (Hopkins) is the original werewolf that bit him and killed his mother and brother.  Of course he returns to kill him and the two battle it out.  Since Hopkins makes an even more cartoon looking werewolf I found it tough to enjoy the fight between them that eventually ends with a headless Hopkins.

The mythology of the movie states if someone that loves the man inside the werewolf kills the beast, then the man's soul is freed from eternal damnation.  Fortunately for Lawrence his brother's fiance has fallen for him, despite any development of the relationship, and she does the deed.  But uh oh, Lawrence bit Agent Smith before he died.  Prepare for the inevitable sequel.

If you enjoy this type of film, then it's worth watching.  For most I recommend waiting for the DVD.  I give 3 out of 5 stars.