The Wolfman is a well-made remake of the successful Lon Chaney classic that, like many films these days, gets bogged down by special effects. Benicio Del Toro stars as a young man summoned home to see his estranged father (Anthony Hopkins) after his brother has been slain by a beast. Soon he is bitten by the creature and assumes the title identity and will have to fight not only his new alter ego but will have to confront his past. This movie has a nice sense of time and place and the actors are all fine. Things get out of control when the full moon appears and the special effects take over which are over the top, unnecessarily gory, and actually quite cheesy.
**1/2
