Werewolf by Night Review: Undoubtedly One Of The Most Intriguing And Successful Marvel Products Of This 2022

Cast: Gael García Bernal, Laura Donnelly, Harriet Sansom Harris

Director: Michael Giacchino

Streaming Platform: Disney+

Filmyhype.com Ratings: 3.5/5 (three and a half stars) [yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

Marvel Studios sheds heroism epic technology and color and takes us for about 50 minutes on a short horror adventure Werewolf by Night available on Disney+, which recalls the old classics of the Universal genre (Tod’s Dracula). Browning, James Whale’s Frankenstein and of course Wolf Man with Lon Chaney Jr.), at least on paper. Because, as we will see in our review of Werewolf by Night, this Marvel Special seems to place itself in an intermediate way between style and content: a double nature, like the protagonist played by Gael García Bernal, which does not always work in the best way.

Let’s start from a premise: those who expected from Werewolf by Night a radical reinterpretation of the now well-known and discussed Marvel formula will be a bit disappointed. The so-called special presentation dedicated to the Werewolf by Night magazine that will debut on Disney + on October 7, in fact, certainly does not intend to invent the wheel from scratch or mark a new course within the MCU, but to open a small darker corner with excellent potential. Yes, excellent because, as much as the medium-length film directed by Michael Giacchino is, is not exactly a revolution, it still manages to do a fascinating and virtuous job of introducing monsters and their hunters into an ever-expanding universe – and that perhaps with this Phase 4 is losing a precise direction for a moment (do not miss our interview with Michael Giacchino).

Werewolf by Night Review: The Story

The plot of Werewolf by Night is not particularly complicated, thanks to the short duration of the Special. Ulysses Bloodstone, leader of a group of proud monster hunters, is dead. Only he, hunter among hunters, possessed a powerful red relic named Bloodstone, a weapon that accepts only one master and which, upon the death of its old owner, is in search of a new individual worthy of his power. On the night of Ulysses’ funeral, in the family mansion, his daughter Elsa (Laura Donnelly) and a group of promising hunters, including the lethal Jack (Gael García Bernal), will compete in the villa’s cemetery garden to decide who among them he is worthy of owning the stone. Thus begins a night hunt among the tombs, in search of a monster to defeat and become the worthy heirs of the power of Bloodstone.

We will not spoil the surprises that will be narrated in these 50 minutes and that divide the Special into three precise acts, each with its own identity, the true cross and delight of this Werewolf by Night. Because if at the beginning this medium-length film seems to want to strongly pay homage to certain canons of horror cinema of the Thirties, the more the story progresses the more it becomes contemporary and linked, instead, to the Marvel Studios cinema to which we are more used. Which on the one hand would explain not only the final scene, but also the narrative coherence of a Special that aims to introduce further characters in the great cinematic superhero cast of the House of Ideas, but on the other hand leaves a bitter feeling of missing courage, of a real novelty.

Werewolf by Night Review and Analysis

Giacchino had also promised us in our interview, his interest derived a lot from the human side of these monsters, who had to fight and live daily with something impossible to control or solve. And in fact, Werewolf by Night focuses almost entirely on this theme: Jack Russell is a tormented and shy person who, however, has no intention of losing his humanity, a dose of good humor and also certain solidarity with those in his same condition. He looks like a fish out of water compared to other hunters, strangely disinterested in bragging about his incredible record of successful hunts and disenchanted by a world of cruelty and extremely bloody habits, a new Kimmy Schmidt in a universe where he happened by chance or a little more.

The Marvel special then builds from this starting point, quickly reveals its true intentions, and puts them into action in the well-known simple and slightly light-hearted mechanism – but we are very far from a Thor: Love and Thunder, so to speak – that we’ve known for a decade and then it just blows up. The last 10 minutes of Werewolf by Night are an ode to monster movies and the American tradition of b-movies with every single shot, every single note of the soundtrack, and every single kill and drop of blood spilled by our monster. And they are superb, a pleasure made wisely with as many practical effects as possible and guided by the hands and vision of a person who loves matter – and culminating in a sensational sequence in our opinion. The strength of Werewolf by Night becomes, however, his weakness: we would have liked even more from these final 10 minutes. The feeling is that the bar could also have been set higher, both on the action side and above all from the horror point of view (a bit too lacking), and that’s what we want from a hypothetical sequel or future of the character. We sincerely hope for it, and this means that the special is more than successful.

Of the cast, not particularly numerous and which for the most part includes characters characterized only aesthetically, albeit interesting, we can find two certainties: the protagonists. Laura Donnelly in the role of Elsa makes space more and more during the minutes of the Speciale, proving to be an interesting character that we would have liked to know more about. Gael García Bernal seems to have a lot of fun and his Jack strikes right from the first shots, although even in this case there is very little space for further study. Consistent with the ingenuity of certain narrative solutions of the cinema of the past, Werewolf by Night prefers to give as much action as possible.

The big surprise, however, is the direction of Michael Giacchino, here behind the camera, as well as the obvious composer of the sound score. Giacchino pays duty during most action scenes, all too similar to the dozens seen over the years even in the same narrative universe, but he knows how to hit a couple of memorable sequences (Jack’s transformation is a touch of class that knows how to use lights and shadows very well) and knows how to build a winning gothic atmosphere. How to define this Special which seems to enclose two souls in one? Nice as a fun gift in time for Halloween, winning as a “special” presentation of a new character, but also too introductory. At the same time, paradoxically, closed in on itself and too open to a future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which in this Phase 4 has created new beginnings whose developments are all to be discovered. An ambiguous nature, like its protagonist, but which makes a Special film less… special, precisely. Further postponing the continuation of Jack’s story, Werewolf by Night does not bite as he would like, making it enjoyable, but more tender like a puppy than overwhelming like a wolf.

There remains that smile printed on his face during the opening theme, which plays with the viewer and does not mind changing a jingle and a habit. In that revolutionary force that will gradually fade away (like the effect of the ruined film, like the style it initially pays homage to like horror that yields to action) we find a full moon, bright and that pushes change. And we would like to see this moon again, to be able to freely howl on it. Werewolf by Night is a 50-minute Special with a dual nature. Recalling the black and white of Thirties horror cinema, it offers an original way of staging a very canonical story typical of Marvel Studios, making it fun, but in the long run more contemporary than expected all too introductory and not very incisive. Good direction with some visually successful ideas.

Werewolf by Night Review: The Last Words

Werewolf by Night is undoubtedly one of the most intriguing and successful Marvel products of this 2022 for the rest somewhat fluctuating, waiting for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. It is nothing more than a sumptuous ode to the classic monster movies of Universal and the American tradition of series b films, on which the Marvel formula is partly grafted, therefore a tone so light-hearted but never too out of place or over the top. After a quick introduction, Werewolf by Night then begins immediately and the first part is dominated by a theme very dear to the director Michael Giacchino, namely the humanity of these monsters. It is the main theme on which the Marvel special builds a climax that then explodes in the final 10 minutes simply extraordinary for quotes, soundtrack, violence, and horror tints, culminating in a particularly wonderful sequence. But after admiring this conclusion, Werewolf by Night satisfied us widely, yet we would have wanted, even more, we would have wanted a bar set even higher. If this is the basis, better keep an eye on this Jack Russell, it will still give a lot of satisfaction.