Directed By Michael Giacchino

Starring – Gael Garcia Bernal, Laura Donnelly, Daniel J. Watts

The Plot – On a dark and somber night, a secret cabal of monster hunters emerge from the shadows and gather at the foreboding Bloodstone Temple following the death of their leader. In a strange and macabre memorial to the leader’s life, the attendees are thrust into a mysterious and deadly competition for a powerful relic, a hunt that will ultimately bring them face to face with a dangerous monster. Inspired by horror films of the 1930s and 1940s, the chilling special aims to evoke a sense of dread and the macabre, with plenty of suspense and scares along the way as we explore a new corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Rated TV-14

Marvel Studios’ Special Presentation: Werewolf By Night | Official Trailer | Disney+ – YouTube

POSITIVES

“Werewolf by Night” feels like a breath of fresh air for a production company that have stalled progressively and significantly since completing the single greatest franchise of storytelling in cinematic history. It’s a breath that elates us with a vibrancy of experimentation in both the production designs and genre capacities, yet one that takes an array of chances creatively that almost unanimously pay off in beneficial circumstance. For the former, the film’s colorless canvas is a tasteful throwback to the ages of creature features from the 30’s and 40’s that redefined cinema, and since made us challenge the boundaries of our own imagination for escapism on the silver screen. Authenticity springs from the presentation in the form of intentionally muffled sound designs, three-dimensional springing text in on-screen title cards, foggy transitions, and meticulously placed cigarette burns that not only give the film a transformative quality in the many aesthetics, but also prove that an ample amount of heart and dedication was spent on getting the familiarities just right for the occasion. As for the latter, the TV-14 rating does bring with it the rare opportunity for Marvel to get their hands dirty, with consequences and corresponding stakes in on-screen deaths and vulnerability for peril that refuses to shy away with clever edits or tilting of the camera to shoulder us from the interpretation. Yet, while the differences are the most compelling aspect of the film, familiarity isn’t completely obscured from the engagement, bringing forth crisply swift fight choreography and endearing personality that the studio have stemmed an empire from. What’s thankful about the humor here is it’s conjured naturally in ways that don’t feel heavy-handed or compromising to the integrity of the tonal capacities, instead only sporadically materializing, and in ways that never stick around for the duration of the aforementioned physical conflicts in tow. Those engulfed in such a dilemma spring forth a duo of spirited performances from Gael Garcia Bernal and Laura Donnelly that supplant with it the kind of endearing chemistry that is often reserved for romantic interests, but here thankfully keeps their relationship strictly platonic. This affords Donnelly the commitment to the kind of heroine heroism and tangible resiliency that makes her a commanding presence on the same level of Scarlett Johansson or Elizabeth Olsen, yet one that attains with it the humbling in humanity that ties her character so closely to the unraveling conflict of the narrative. Likewise, the heartful remorse and unabridged stoicism of Bernal’s Jack Russell brings to life a protagonist who combines the X-factor of mystique with the internal struggle of an underlining secret that redefines his character for the film’s second half. Each of them overrides the hinderances of limited characterization for a supplanted dynamic that coincides seamlessly with the depths of the primary conflict, solidifying two alluring turns that we wish we got to spend more than 54 minutes with. Speaking of that brief run time, it’s something I’m conflicted with in opinion, but the positive side of its minutes is in keeping the urgency of the narrative firmly on its toes, with the least amount of downtime I’ve ever seen in a Marvel engagement leading to a smoothly easy duration that kept me from checking my watch or diminishing my interests in even the slightest of opportunities.

NEGATIVES

The balancing aspect to that aforementioned 54-minute run time is that it’s compromising towards some of the supporting characters, which in turn undercuts the unpredictability and expansive appeal of the corresponding merits beyond the primary duo of protagonists. For my money, I wish the script took an extra ten minutes to flesh out some of the secondary characters during the initial opening act or during the unraveling narrative that all but ignores their perspectives to make them feel almost non-existent, except when the script absolutely requires them. Doing so would’ve evened the playing field to the Bloodstone that they’re each viably working towards, with a few of their unceremonious deaths leveling a greater, grander impact to the deposits of their exasperated screen times, similar to how The Hateful Eight fleshed out every character enveloped by the conflict before the bullets ever started flying. My only other problem is a personal taste, pertaining to the actions of the werewolf, which took away some of the ambiance and authenticity of its transformation. When this character becomes a wolf, they maintain the same martial arts fight choreography as that of their human form. It makes the wolf’s actions look unintentionally comical, but beyond that wastes a chance to bring their primal actions to the surface level for something that could’ve further pushed the envelope of its TV-14 rating, all while further distinguishing the variances between human and werewolf form.

OVERALL
“Werewolf by Night” is a fantastical homage to the classic Universal creature features of the 1930’s and 40’s, all while servicing itself as one of Marvel’s most creatively ambitious productions to date. In faithfully unlocking the kind of classic horror involving spellbinding aesthetics and genre-approved tropes, it cements a completely transformational experience in the process, and one demanding an additional ten to fifteen minutes to further inflict the bite to its beast.

My Grade: 8/10 or B+