Kaisen Infinity poster

The Kaisen Infinity convention was held this past Saturday May 7^th at the Fernando (Rube) Hernández coliseum in Gurabo, Puerto Rico. This is the main event of Paquines, a nonprofit organization of fans of comics, anime, science fiction and other hobbies on the island. (Paquines are the same people behind the Karibukai Animation Festival.) The main attractions of Kaisen (besides local retailers of fandom goodies) are the cosplay contests, gaming tournaments, model exhibits, live music, and fan skits.

Welcome to Nana Cafe

Kaisen attracts people of all ages and fandoms, although most of the cosplaying (and merchandise) I saw was inspired in anime.

This was the first time Kaisen was held in Gurabo, a town in the central eastern part of Puerto Rico. The relatively new coliseum was an ideal place for this event. It was spacious, fully air-conditioned, with ample parking and a great location. People came from all over the island to enjoy the festivities.

Some highlights of the day:

• 

  Furries represent!

  An impromptu dance based on the Caramelldansen meme everybody seemed to know and I had to look up later. A lion furry started it as a solo dance and people just jumped in behind him. It was definitely a great moment of the Con. Here is a video I found on YouTube.

• Nana Cafe, a new local maid cafe, offered food and entertainment. I look forward to their restaurant opening soon to see them in their element. They even danced during skits time after being crazy busy all day.
• The huge detailed World War II and Iraq War dioramas from Museo de Figuras y Dioramas. I did find the Nazi flag and cosplay jarring however.
• Rock band Back Seat Driver gave a crowd-pleasing performance.
• 

  Quickly helping Captain America

  Another local band present that I didn’t see perform but were lovely to chat with (in spite of their name!) was Death Arrangement.

• Being amused at the innocent/sexy feel of the anime cosplay and merchandise.
• The Flash and Captain America chasing each other around the coliseum. All those who were having fun with their outfits were also fun for us to watch.

I was part of the volunteer crew; it was great to talk with fellow genre fans while we attended our duties. A shout out to Paola of Hogwarts Puerto Rico, Aiko, Lavinia, Victor, Karlo, and Alchemist for your Japanese lessons and general camaraderie!

I posted my photos in a Facebook album. Also here’s a slide show with even more pictures- another YouTube find:

Afterglow (2009) is a science fiction short film written and directed by Andres Anglade. It is a story told by a militia officer reporting to his superiors about an incident during his alien patrol. In this world, humanity has repulsed an alien invasion, but it’s still possible part of the enemy remains on Earth. The officer’s job is to find them.

Afterglow has been shown at several film festivals and San Diego Comic-Con, and won the 2009 Director’s Choice for Short Film Category at the Rincón International Film Festival in Puerto Rico. This is director Anglade’s first professional film.

Andres Anglade is of Puerto Rican and German heritage, and currently resides in California. I had the opportunity of interviewing Anglade which was fun because he’s very much “one of us.” He loves science fiction and telling stories through a visual medium. We talked about the short, where he got his inspiration and his work on Battlestar Galactica and NBC’s Community.

Where did you get the idea for Afterglow?
The basic idea came from one simple question “What would happen if an alien invasion happened right now?” What would you do? How would you act? That’s essentially the genesis of the story behind the film. But what I really wanted to explore was how people dealt with an alien invasion after the invasion. They invaded. We won. What comes next?

So Afterglow is from a “common person” point of view instead of the major players?
Yes, exactly. I’ve always been a fan of seeing how “regular” people react to large scale events. I’m also a fan of not showing the big event, but letting people’s imaginations run wild and let them envision what may have happened.

What type of science fiction inspires you?
I’m inspired by a lot of [genre films where] there are moments that you forget they’re science fiction. One of my all time favorite sci-fi films is the original The Day The Earth Stood Still. And with that film, sure you have the classic flying saucer landing on Earth, but the exploration of people’s emotions and reactions to it is so well done. That film holds up today and I always tell people to watch it. A more recent film that explores a new world [that] way was Children Of Men. It was able to explore individual lives in and around much larger issues.
Don’t get me wrong, though, the little kid in me still loves to see the action spectacle and will go see films where stuff blows up, but the ones that inspire me also touch upon the relationships we have. The Abyss is my favorite sci-fi film, and again it has moments where you forget you’re watching a sci-fi film. But the action is spectacular and [director James] Cameron makes us really care about the characters.

Andres Anglade at the Science Fiction Museum

In Afterglow, people are highly suspicious of each other after they defeat the aliens. Is Afterglow an allegory of how we treat others in a post 9/11 world?
We do now live in a world of suspicion and that was definitely a theme I wanted to explore. But again, the most important things for me were the characters. I wasn’t trying to touch upon the issue of torture; it was more of trying to explore the most horrific way someone could just snap after a tragic event.

How did you finance Afterglow?
For financing, I saved up money, and Executive Producer Melissa Scotti helped raise around $3000, which was awesome. And all of that combined was still not enough, so the rest went on credit cards. The final budget for the film ended up being around $12,000. But I also called in a lot of favors. That’s what’s great about being around a film-loving/making community of friends. We all like to help each other out.

Does Afterglow have a future (part two)?
I wrote a few scripts for a webseries and pitched it around, but nothing ever happened. I’m glad it didn’t work out, because looking back at them, the scripts need work. I’ve tried several times to turn it into a feature, which I still want to do, but I have to find the right story to tell. There are so many to tell in that world and I want the right one. I don’t want to settle.

How was winning the Rincón award in Puerto Rico?
It was such a great festival. Doug Lantz [Festival & Programming Director] and everyone involved were so accommodating and generous. Winning the award was surprising and unexpected. Unfortunately I left the day of the awards ceremony, so they gave me an impromptu ceremony out at dinner the night before. It was great!

Tell us about the work you did for the Battlestar Galactica shorts and NBC’s Community. Were you a fan of these shows before you worked on them?
I worked at a company that did all the special features for the DVD and Blu-Ray releases of BSG. Those two special features [Cylons - The Twelve and The Journey] were something that was kind of thrown at me by the producer with an impossible schedule. We managed to turn those in and because of the hard work I put in I was given producer credit on it. It was rough, but I got to know the company editor on it really well, Brian Kelley, and he ended up doing the color correction for Afterglow.
I did watch BSG. It was amazing. I do have to admit, though, a friend tried to get me to watch it way back and I couldn’t get through the mini-series. A few years later I gave it another shot and once I saw [season one, episode one] ‘33’… once you see that, you’re in. I actually got some of my non sci-fi friends into that show.
I’m currently the post coordinator for the show Community. I work with the post department and I love it. I was a fan of the show before I got the job and everyone I work with is really cool. I couldn’t ask for a better crew.

What’s next for you?
Right now I’m in pre-production for my next short that I plan on shooting in Puerto Rico next summer. The script is done, we’re raising money, location scouting, prepping VFX [visual effects] and all the fun stuff.

Watch Afterglow below or here and check out its Facebook page for behind the scenes photos!

[Skip this paragraph to avoid spoilers] So what’s it about? Well so far, a group of individuals with advanced physiology and technology are kept prisoner in an Alaskan facility at Mount Inostranka (meaning foreigner/alien in Russian). After 60 years, the U.S. President learns of these people (let’s call them the Inostranka Group). He tries to get them out but events in the first two episodes change his mind. The Inostranka Group has people outside, and, tired of waiting, are poised to react, possibly violently. Usually these stories have an average character who gets thrust into the middle of things- someone to root for. In this case it’s Sean Walker (Jason Ritter), a guy who just wants to propose to his girlfriend but all this conspiracy stuff gets in the way.

The Event features a U.S. President of Cuban descent, President Elias Martinez (Blair Underwood), the First Lady Christina Martinez also of Cuban heritage (Lisa Vidal, Puerto Rican) and their son, David (Sayeed Shahidi). There is  another Latino actor in the series besides Vidal- Gonzalo Menendez (of Cuban heritage). He plays an Air Marshal called Dan Taylor- a minor character listed in 4 episodes on IMDB. Not sure what is up with his accent but I wanted to mention him since he’s had small parts in at least three other genre works- 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer, The Island, and Sliders. All we know about this character is his job, his weird accent, and that he wears a wedding ring. At least he has a name, so who knows? We may see more of him in the series.

Apparently there’s been some controversy about Blair Underwood playing a Latino character of such stature (major character, primetime network TV). I admit I would have preferred a Latino actor because of the shortage of good roles that are custom-made for a Latino. But Underwood is doing a good job so far, and he definitely looks the part. Sure when he speaks Spanish he’s probably going to have a terrible accent that will make me cringe, but so do many second generation Latinos raised in the United States. Plus, the character is a bona fide Afro-Latino which is super rare on TV. Most Latinos on television or in movies are white or light skinned, and that goes for Latin American productions too.

Out of curiosity, I looked up other fictional Latino U.S. presidents. Here they are:

• Jimmy Smits (Puerto Rican) as President Matthew Santos (Mexican American) in The West Wing
• John D’Aquino (Italian American) as President Richard Martinez in Cory in the House

In written works (now added to my reading list!):

• President Juanita Alvarez in Sunstorm by Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter (President in 2037)
• President Joseph Armando in Mars by Ben Bova (first Hispanic president, elected sometime in the early 21st century)
• President Maria Juarez in: The Light of Other Days by Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter (First female President of the United States, for at least one term (2037-2041))

So according to this brief research, President Elias Martinez is the first U.S. President of Latino heritage on a science fiction TV show. But if you’re thinking sci-fi movies, then look no further than President Camacho of Idiocracy:

Yeah, that's right

This weekend I made it to the Karibukai Animation Festival. I say “made it” because it was raining constantly this past week and I waited until the very last day of the festival for drier weather.

I got the chance to meet Carlos Goméz Nicolás (Nikodemo), creator of the funny animated series from Spain Cálico Electrónico. Niko was freshly arrived from a (wet) tour of El Yunque rainforest. Poor guy came to normally sunny Puerto Rico and barely saw the sun.  He was nice enough to autograph stickers of his Cálico series for free. Cálico Electrónico is about a short chubby janitor/superhero that fights (or tries to fight) bad guys in Electronic City. Some videos the Cálico website are dubbed into English so if you can’t understand Spanish you’re in luck.

I saw Dig Comics, a pro comic book reading documentary with writer/director/host Miguel Cima (of Argentinean heritage).  From what I saw, Cima is very much a comic book fanboy and this documentary is a labor of love.  Made me smile.  There was a second documentary about comic books called Comic Book Literacy. It was a longish but very educational. I learned something of the history of comics in the United States.

Of the Japanese anime I saw, I found Gundam Unicorn to be the most interesting and will be looking for the DVD. I hadn’t seen any robot anime since Voltron.  I thought it had ruined me for anything else.

The shorts contest was disappointing not because of the quality but because of the quantity. There were only three contenders, and three prizes, so it wasn’t exactly a fierce competition. Hopefully next year we’ll get more entries. Here were the winners:

1st place ($250) and Viewer’s Choice award ($150). Fried, Elena Montijo Capetillo. This was a cute dark humor story about a little girl who loves her chickens but each bird is a bit crazy (and the girl too). I voted for this entry because it was the one I liked best. Having it created by a woman was a nice bonus. Check out her promo video at the link. It shows a bit of the winning short starting at 0:37.

2nd place ($200). Boricuas Beyond: Happy Hour, José Luis Collazo. This animated short from the Puerto Ricans in the future series Boricuas Beyond was the one I least enjoyed. Although the animation is excellent, I didn’t like the crude humor.  It uses local pop culture and slang heavily so it would be hard to get if you’re not a Puerto Rican living on the island.

3rd place ($150). Ventana, José Vázquez. I’m not sure Ventana was a story, it was more like a look at past and future Puerto Rican cartoon characters, some corporate logos and others from comics and webseries. Vázquez also presented a short called Mad Taíno about a native couple who fight Spanish conquistadors.

I really hope more animators and  film producers participate in future Karibukai events. It’s great exposure and the money isn’t bad either. Here’s to next year not having such foul weather that keeps people home. I really enjoyed the event and hope the Karibukai Festival will become a yearly tradition.

Recently I received a press release with interesting news about an animation festival that will take place for the first time in Puerto Rico next weekend. Here are the details: The Karibukai Animation Festival will take place from May 27th to the 30th at the Puerto Rico National Filmotheque in the north wing of the Cuartel Ballajá, near the San Felipe del Morro Castle in Old San Juan. Karibukai will feature full-length animated films along with a contest for local animated shorts. According to their website, Karibukai is the Japanese word for Caribbean.

Some guests attending:

• Carlos Goméz Nicolás (Nikodemo)- creator of the animated series from Spain Cálico Electrónico
• Panel discussing the challenges of local animators with:
  • José Luis Collazo (Wewex)- Boricuas Beyond series
  • Reynaldo León- Guabamán series
  • Tommy González- Manny el Manatí series

International productions that will be shown include:

• Japan: Vexille, Evangelion 1.01, Robotech: Shadow Chronicles
• United States: Halo: Legends; Justice League: Crisis on 2 Earths; Tales from the Black Freighter; documentaries Comic Book Literacy and Dig Comics
• Israel: Waltz with Bashir

Karibukai is organized by Paquines, a nonprofit organization bringing animation, comics, and film fans together in Puerto Rico. Check out the Karibukai official website for more details, film listings, and contest info. I’m looking forward to checking the festival out so if you can’t be in beautiful Old San Juan next weekend, I’ll let you know what went down.

Title: Deepest Fears Project
Publisher: Self-published
Creator and Artwork: Keishla M. Rodríguez
Inking: Keishla M. Rodríguez, David E. Morales
Story: Keishla M. Rodríguez, Alexis I. Ríos, Xaymara Rodríguez, David E. Morales
Text Editing: Keishla M. Rodríguez, Alexis I. Ríos
Website: myspace.com/DeepestFearsManga

Shiro Raikkonen of 'Deepest Fears Project'

The Deepest Fears Project Vol. 1 introduces a story about three friends who are like siblings that move to Puerto Rico in search of a safer life. It is set in a future where genetic manipulation has crossed animal and human DNA, and some people are part beast. The three main characters, besides being a mix of nationalities (German, Puerto Rican, Finnish, Chinese), are part wolf and panda. You can see it at first glance- they have animal ears and tails. Although this new breed of humans is openly part of society, some pure humans consider them abnormal and abuse them. Deepest Fears Project is written in English, but it may be translated to Spanish soon.

I spoke to the creator and self-taught artist Keishla Rodríguez about how Deepest Fears was developed, and future plans for the series. She and her team are all from Puerto Rico. Ms. Rodríguez definitely embodies promising young talent creatively, artistically, and entrepreneurially. Here’s the interview:

How was the PRCC for Deepest Fears?
It was my first time going to a convention and people really supported us, and we were able to recoup most of what we invested. I didn’t realize there was so much interest in manga in Puerto Rico, even though some people, particularly adults, weren’t familiar with it and we had to explain.  It was super! Our writing team was there, all of us helping out with the setup.

The artwork is great! How did you learn to draw? Before Deepest Fears, had you worked on any other art projects?
I mostly learned to draw on my own, taking web tutorials and experimenting instead of formal training. I have two other mangas, but didn’t publish them.

How did the Deepest Fears Project originate?
It began as an RPG I was in with a friend. We developed our characters and thought of creating a comic strip. But when I took a course in Media Administration as part of my Communications degree I talked to my group and we decided to develop a manga as our final project. The title ‘Deepest Fears’ refers to the central character Shiro, who has made a deal with Hades and is trying to run from what he is, his fears, and inner darkness. Certain songs I listened to helped me come up with the title.

Tell us more about Shiro.
Shiro is the eldest sibling so he’s been taking care of the other two. Shiro and brother Paku were abandoned and grew up in an orphanage, and sister Kirsi had parents but they died. They were friends before the death of Kirsi’s parents, and were bonded even tighter when they did die. Shiro as the oldest feels he needs to be the strong one, yet inside he is afraid of failure and what he’s become.

Who are the ‘Disfigured Saints’ mentioned in the book? Are they the bad guys?
They are like army sergeants commanded by Hades. Each one has their own contingent watching over people according to their sin. They rid the Earth of evil yet ironically are evil themselves. Hades is a dictator type and dominates the planet, although there is someone above him.

How many volumes will the story end up having?
It’ll be eight volumes, possibly with other stories outside of the main story arc but in the same world. We’re working on the second volume now and it should be out around September, depending on how well the first volume sells.

What other products do you have in the line?
We make our own shirts, key chains, stickers, and posters. We plan on making figurines and stuffed toys- whatever we can think of! It’s a job I’m passionate about and once I graduate I’d like to continue making books and publishing them. I plan on finishing the series in Puerto Rico. I don’t know if in the future I’ll go on to formally study about making comics.

Thanks to Ms. Rodríguez for the interview! You can read more about Deepest Fears Project at their MySpace page here. Soon they’ll be up on Facebook. Order requests for Deepest Fears Project merchandise can be sent to DeepestFearsManga AT gmail.

This weekend the Puerto Rico Comic Con (PRCC) held its annual two-day event at the Puerto Rico Convention Center in San Juan. I visited on the first day. The PRCC is a small convention that is almost entirely a huge dealer’s room with comic book and toy vendors.  Their best feature is that the local comic book and manga artists come in person with their new material (which they all signed for the price of the book). It was great meeting them; you could tell they love what they do. Most attendees were teens and young adults interested in anime and manga, a growing trend on the island. There were plenty of cosplayers at the event along with game tournaments and a few out-of-town guests. These included Twilight actor Chaske Spencer, anime voice actor Spike Spencer, and comic book artist Michael Golden.

Hopefully next year the convention will add more panels and have an event schedule and booth map available on site. There was only one panel with Chaske Spencer limited to 300 people a day, and it cost an additional $40 to get in (daily tix were $16). So most attendees never saw the arguably biggest star of the event, and that’s a shame. While not being a Twilight fan, I would have gone out of curiosity and who knows? Maybe I would watch the movies if I was charmed by one of the actors. Spike Spencer did have a Q&A session but it wasn’t moderated; it took place in the main dealer’s room so it didn’t have the greatest sound quality. However, the actor did his best to answer questions and entertain everyone so- disaster averted.

I got the latest local comic books and talked to many artists, so in future posts I will share my thoughts about the books and whenever possible, interview the artists and writers. I’ve posted pictures of the event on the SciFi Latino Facebook page.

UPDATE 4/26/2010: More event photos by attendees at the Paquines.com and Cinemateria forum. You must register to see them, but it’s free. Click here!

I know what you did last month, Graystone

[Many spoilers]

Since the episode title quotes from The Art of War, I expected Know Thy Enemy to be a precursor to battle. It is (sort of). The episode jumps one month ahead from the Vergis Corporation robbery of the Meta Cognitive Processor (MCP) device. Two research lab employees, close to Tomas Vergis, were killed during the break-in. Vergis confronts Daniel Graystone at a museum fundraiser. They speak in front of the beautiful Bill Reid sculpture The Raven and the First Men. The sculpture is inspired by a human creation myth where the raven coaxes people out of a clamshell. I find it appropriate that the Vergis/Graystone chat would have Raven as background since they argue about a device that aids artificial intelligence in leaving the virtual world.

On a different battlefront, Soldiers of the One serial bomber Barnabas, a much-anticipated new character, is introduced. I’m not too impressed with the character yet- using razor wire as an arm bracelet was overkill. I suppose the writers want to make him seem crazy. Or they like torture porn. Keon takes Lacy to see Barnabas in a bid to help transport the Zoebot to Gemenon. Unfortunately Lacy is being tight-lipped about what she wants to transport so Barnabas says nyet.  Barnabas is played by James Marsters so he better not be wasted! Or else the Whedon people will revolt.

The Graystone household gets two visitors, both with decidedly unfriendly intentions, making you wonder if they have any friends at all. Clarice Willow visits Amanda, gets her drunk, and manages to get invited to the lab in her search for the Zoe avatar. I used to make excuses for Amanda, but wow, this was really stupid of her. Separately, Daniel gets a third visit from Tomas Vergis. Vergis wants Graystone to know that his MCP robbery hurt him and he has the tattoos to prove it. The lab assistants that got murdered were close to Vergis; he was nonós (godfather) to their children. As a viewer, I can’t sympathize with Vergis yet because we haven’t seen much of him, even though he promises to be an interesting character. Vergis lets Daniel know that he wants to buy his precious Caprican Buccaneers just because Daniel loves them so much. Graystone Industries needs the cash to fulfill their military contract on time. The Vergis character could be as hard-ass as Sam Adama. Here’s hoping.

Speaking of Sam Adama, I wonder why he was so nonchalant about the MCP lab murders. After all, it the Guatrau learns of a Tauron-on-Tauron hit, he will be most displeased. Food for thought.

This holoband better work because I threw away the receipt

As for our Latino actors, Esaí Morales’ Joseph Adama buys a holoband to find Tamara’s avatar. His newbie status is humorously and painfully on display when he tries to interact with the obnoxious Daniel avatar. Adama is interrupted by the real Daniel who is shitting his pants about the MCP murders and needs someone else to blame.

Adama’s assistant Dr. Fraiser Evelyn is totally smitten with her boss. Who wouldn’t be? She used the old “let me see your new tattoo” trick to get close. Adama of course ran away. They would make a cute couple.

Our friend Panou’s character got a tiny bit more developed. Olaf seems to be the techie in the Willow family.  He gets his wife Clarice a swipe drive to copy Zoe avatar data in the Graystone lab. Clarice thinks the Zoe avatar is the key to eternal life of the soul. Speaking of Panou, I recently caught up with all the Sanctuary episodes and loved his character there. Would have loved to see more of him. As for Caprica, Panou sightings are few and far between, and it’s hard to see how he could become anything more than another Willow husband. Prove me wrong, Caprica!

Some random tidbits only the obsessed fans would notice:

• Daniel Graystone suffers from back issues. I totally sympathize.
• Joesph Adama got his holoband at Emptor Electronics. Emptor means ‘buyer’ in Latin.
• The Vergis Corporation is in Tauron City. I get the feeling that each planet has a main metropolis with “City” attached to its name. Would be nice to show a bit more originality here. You know there’s a Vergisville somewhere on Tauron!
• Tauron is known for its steak preparation, brandy and cigars.
• If you’re interested in online dating, check out V-Match. “V” is the “i” of tech marketing on the Colonies.
• The Willows have a beautiful matrioshka doll in their bedroom, presumably to enhance their fertility. Or maybe they just like Russian nesting dolls.
• Joe Adama smokes Forge cigarettes.
• Slang for getting a Tauron tattoo is “I got some Tauron on me.”
• Scorpion Ambrosia is green. Heads up for the Caprica party planners: make sure it’s too strong and smells like sulphur for realistic effect.

Sam Adama and stakeout buddy Bob the Bull

[Minor plot points in this review]

Gravedancing starts off with a bang, so to speak, and a frantic press-covered search for terrorist evidence. Graystone goes on the Backtalk TV show to fix the PR nightmare about his family and holoband technology- after being extensively coached on what to say.  The episode title refers to Daniel Graystone and his PR team trying to enhance the Graystone Corporation image by tarnishing that of deceased Zoe.

This episode of Caprica was more about character development than moving the plot forward. We learned more details like: Amanda Graystone’s specialty is plastic surgery (who else thinks that’s a useful skill to have for when Cylons get humanoid skin?); Zoe played the cello; Avatar Zoe finally gets a new dress!; robot lab geeks can’t dance; and the Global Defense Department investigators hold personal grudges against the Soldiers of the One. The show stealers however, were Sam’s stakeout partner and Will Adama’s grandmother; interestingly enough, both are deep-rooted symbols of being Tauron.

In this episode, Joseph discovers that his mother-in-law is the Tauron mafia boss. Not really- but she could be.

As for our Latino watch, we see Joseph (I’ve started pronouncing it “Yoseef” in my head) Adama’s inner turmoil after asking his brother Sam to kill Amanda Graystone. He kinda wants to, but he kinda doesn’t. By the time he makes up his mind it might be too late for Mrs./Dr. Graystone.  Esaí Morales does a great job showing increasing desperation, and I loved how Sam Adama’s character played off his brother’s anxiety. Olaf Willow (Panou) finally shows up in the Willow super-huge bed in a brief but memorable family moment.

Panou (Olaf Willow, lower right) gets some interesting face time

One final note: Did you catch the old school Battlestar Galactica music homage? It was frakkin awesome!

More of this next time, Benicio

[Minor plot points in this review]

The Wolfman finally premiered.  I haven’t seen the 1941 original but from what I’ve read many of the elements are the same, including character names. Set in 1891, Lawrence Talbot (Benicio del Toro) is a Shakespearian actor with a traumatic childhood who got sent to America to live with his aunt where he presumably lost all traces of a British accent. He returns as a brooding adult to his childhood home after his brother Ben is savagely killed and Ben’s fiancée calls Lawrence back.

Lawrence’s father, Sir John Talbot (Anthony Hopkins), lives on an isolated estate in Blackmoor, England with only one servant, Singh. If you know nothing about Blackmoor, it is where all the fog goes to die. There is a nearby village full of superstitious folk and a gypsy camp nearby. People live in terror of the beast that killed Ben Talbot. The movie follows Lawrence as he tries to discover who or what killed his brother, how he gets mauled for his efforts by the beast and becomes one himself. Hugo Weaving adds to the cast as a Scotland Yard Inspector trying to serve justice in Foggyland.

The story is good, but if you expect to be scared, you will be disappointed. There is very little to be scared about, unless blood and gore scare you. Personally I didn’t expect to be scared but I did expect to feel some tension and intrigue. I also expected to care about Lawrence Talbot, as the innocent that gets turned into a monster and is persecuted by those around him. Just like for Frankenstein or King Kong, I wanted to root for the beast. Unfortunately in this movie the plight of the werewolf didn’t connect with me. Perhaps if we’d seen his story through the eyes of a caring brother or the long-suffering manservant Singh, the movie would have been more interesting. There are no solid female characters either- Ben’s fiancée Gwen (Emily Blunt) does very little. I understand she was in the original- and that’s the only reason I can see for her character being there. Mostly she looked pretty in her Victorian garb- she wasn’t given much else to do.  There is zero romantic chemistry between her and Benicio’s character, even though the script tried to force it.

None of the main characters had a great performance; even Benicio (gasp) didn’t do it for me. I think he was going for depressed, and just came out as disinterested. Anthony Hopkins was all over the place- he couldn’t figure out if he was campy, or tragic, or evil. If he was going for insane, he didn’t quite make it. Very disappointing performances from two actors I adore. Hugo Weaving and Art Malik (Singh) performed well but their characters were sadly underused.

There are some good things about this movie. For example, Lawrence’s creepy nightmares/hallucinations were a good way to establish his mental state throughout the film.  I liked the werewolf transformation and makeup.  I was never much a fan of too much wolf snout, so this less wolfy version was good for me. I also like that the wolf kept his clothes on, signifying the humanity left inside. (Although now that I think about it, if he had lost his clothes then we would’ve had naked Benicio shots in the morning… hmm.) The beastly attacks were good, especially the one at the gypsy camp and the asylum medical theater. Nice use of gore. There could have been more, actually. I mean, they already had the R rating, right?

All in all, The Wolfman is watchable but a bit dull. I expected a more exciting version of the classic.