...Is this brief, 50-minute "special presentation". Gael Garcia Bernal stars as one of several monster hunters, part of a secret society of such people, who are brought together for a meeting that has a dual purpose: 1, to honor their recently fallen leader, and 2, to choose a new leader. This vetting process will consist of the hunters being trapped in a labyrinth with a monster, attached to which is the fabled "Bloodstone", a mystical relic that imbues its possessor with great power. The hunters have to overcome the creature, and each other, to claim the Bloodstone and become the new leader. Among those contending are the daughter of the dead leader, Elsa (Laura Donnelly).
Presented in B&W, with a few snatches of color here and there, this is trying to evoke the Universal horror films. The performances by Bernal and Donnelly are fine, while Harriet Sansom Harris chews the scenery as the widow of the deceased leader. I have been looking forward to this for the past few months, but unfortunatelyI found it lacking. The story is thin and full of nonsensical dumbness (why would a monster-hunter society convene their best and brightest only to have them hunt one another?), the tone pitched too cartoonish, and worst of all, despite the title, the werewolf only appears for a few minutes.
The aspect that's likely to be most discussed is Man-Thing, the giant plant-monster character from Marvel comics making his live action debut. Like many recent Marvel additions, though, he's largely reduced to a punchline. All-in-all, I'd rank this at the bottom of the Marvel canon thus far, although maybe someone else can do something more interesting with the characters further down the line.
Presented in B&W, with a few snatches of color here and there, this is trying to evoke the Universal horror films. The performances by Bernal and Donnelly are fine, while Harriet Sansom Harris chews the scenery as the widow of the deceased leader. I have been looking forward to this for the past few months, but unfortunatelyI found it lacking. The story is thin and full of nonsensical dumbness (why would a monster-hunter society convene their best and brightest only to have them hunt one another?), the tone pitched too cartoonish, and worst of all, despite the title, the werewolf only appears for a few minutes.
The aspect that's likely to be most discussed is Man-Thing, the giant plant-monster character from Marvel comics making his live action debut. Like many recent Marvel additions, though, he's largely reduced to a punchline. All-in-all, I'd rank this at the bottom of the Marvel canon thus far, although maybe someone else can do something more interesting with the characters further down the line.