# Anyone with high hopes for The Wolfman?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-with-high-hopes-for-the-wolfman/524447
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [January 11, 2010, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-with-high-hopes-for-the-wolfman/524447 "2010-01-11T00:19:23Z")
**Posts on this page:** 10
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@wedgehed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wedgehed)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2010, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-with-high-hopes-for-the-wolfman/524447/1 "2010-01-11T00:19:23Z")
Can they recapture some of the thrills & chills (not to mention _FUN_) of the old Universal horror classics? I hope do.
But please, not another _Van Helsing_! Yuch!
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### Author:  [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2010, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-with-high-hopes-for-the-wolfman/524447/2 "2010-01-11T00:49:20Z")
High hopes here. If nothing else, the high level of acting talent (del Toro, Hopkins, Blunt, Weaving) will elevate the material.
I loved Van Helsing, but they can’t be compared. VH was basically a goofy black comedy, and a cracking good time if you viewed it as such. Wolfman looks to be a deadly serious take on the legend.
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### Author:  [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2010, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-with-high-hopes-for-the-wolfman/524447/3 "2010-01-11T17:30:21Z")
At work I’ve seen the trailer at least a few hundred times, so my enthusiasm has waned somewhat, but I’m still looking forward to it (and the Crazies, for some reason).
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### Author:  [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2010, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-with-high-hopes-for-the-wolfman/524447/4 "2010-01-11T17:42:20Z")
> [@Equipoise](#):
>
> High hopes here. If nothing else, the high level of acting talent (del Toro, Hopkins, Blunt, Weaving) will elevate the material.
I can think of a myriad of examples that refutes this premise.
> [@](#):
>
> I loved Van Helsing, but they can’t be compared. VH was basically a goofy black comedy, and a cracking good time if you viewed it as such. Wolfman looks to be a deadly serious take on the legend.
And here’s my real concern. The story of the Wolf Man is a deeply emotional one, and while de Toro clearly has the chops, I don’t trust Joe Johnston (who has tons of experience with effects-driven films but little when it comes to human emotion) to have the deft touch necessary to make it anything more than another empty-headed remake with plenty of modern bells & whistles but very little soul.
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### Author:  [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2010, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-with-high-hopes-for-the-wolfman/524447/5 "2010-01-11T18:09:39Z")
Even with the actors they have, the trailer for it certainly doesn’t impart any hope.
So, no, I have no hopes at all for it.
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### Author:  [@capeo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capeo)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2010, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-with-high-hopes-for-the-wolfman/524447/6 "2010-01-11T18:13:26Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#):
>
> I can think of a myriad of examples that refutes this premise.And here’s my real concern. The story of the Wolf Man is a deeply emotional one, and while de Toro clearly has the chops, I don’t trust Joe Johnston (who has tons of experience with effects-driven films but little when it comes to human emotion) to have the deft touch necessary to make it anything more than another empty-headed remake with plenty of modern bells & whistles but very little soul.
Damn, I didn’t even realize this was a Joe Johnston film. Hopes fading even more. Originally my hopes faded when it went into turn around and they were actually considering Brett - I can’t make a good movie to save my life - Ratner.
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### Author:  [@fusoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fusoya)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2010, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-with-high-hopes-for-the-wolfman/524447/7 "2010-01-11T18:55:13Z")
Please, a horror movie in February? February is where bad movies go to get killed off (pun half intended)
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### Author:  [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2010, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-with-high-hopes-for-the-wolfman/524447/8 "2010-01-11T19:14:04Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#):
>
> I don’t trust Joe Johnston (who has tons of experience with effects-driven films but little when it comes to human emotion)
Wait a minute. What about [October Sky](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0132477/)?
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### Author:  [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2010, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-with-high-hopes-for-the-wolfman/524447/9 "2010-01-11T19:28:08Z")
> [@spoke-](#):
>
> Wait a minute. What about [October Sky](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0132477/)?
I said little, not none. 😛
But the thing is, _October Sky_ wasn’t an effects-driven film, so of course it’s going to center around character, etc., and it’s a perfectly fine film in its own right. The challenge is to find character and tone and emotion in an effects-driven film without being overwhelmed by all the CG hysteria. But Johnston has shown that when the production values are in play in his films (some of which I even like), they still easily take over the rest of the movie.
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### Author:  [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2010, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-with-high-hopes-for-the-wolfman/524447/10 "2010-01-11T19:30:34Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#):
>
> I said little, not none. 😛
>
> But the thing is, _October Sky_ wasn’t an effects-driven film, so of course it’s going to center around character, etc., and it’s a perfectly fine film in its own right. The challenge is to find character and tone and emotion in an effects-driven film without being overwhelmed by all the CG hysteria. But Johnston has shown that when the production values are in play in his films (some of which I even like), they still easily take over the rest of the movie.
I’m not sure I agree. Jurassic Park III (which I think is an under-appreciated film) had several interesting little character-driven subplots.