This was quite loyal to the original Lon Chaney film, the Wolfman looked very similar to Lons werewolf. I think I even saw a subtle nod to American werewolf in london.
I found the movie to be very loyal to the original movie with bumbling doctors and alot of simple and corny dialogue. Easy to follow story with some decent action and one starltling scene that gave me goosebumps from head to toe.
The movie was loyal to the classic, but the horror / gore was definately from 2010!
If you are a fan of the old 50's B monster movies and sci fi flicks this movie is full of little references and some not so little references. They pay homage to many movies that have faded into obscurity including the Amazing Colossal Man, Dr Strangelove, Mothra, and many more. They even poke fun at Spielberg and company!
I laughed alot, the jokes are cheesy, simple and way stupid, just the way I like 'em!
I found the Dark Knight to be the Empire Strikes Back of the DC comics movies. The good guys were just that, good guys, and the bad guys got more horrible than one can imagine. The movie hit it's stride very quickly with a pencil trick even Cris Angel would hesitate reproducing. The truly fascinating thing I found about this movie is that it succeeded as a blockbuster action movie, and also had many MANY references to lead you craving sequels.
The highlight of this film is of course Ledger, but I found myself with a slight case of antici-pointment. Except for the extreme closeups and masterfully delivered lines and a constant licking of the lips leads you to believe that his mouth injury as a child never healed, making me cringe with every shot, wondering if indeed the red around his mouth is makeup, or the continuing bleeding of his facial sores. I found him to be indeed a step beyond Jack Nicholsons Joker, but not as compelling as the pre opening hype had me to believe.
This was the first Batman that truly operated on a international base, possibly expanding to Batman saving cities world wide. (or not)
The ending was a rapid fire set up of the next sequel, often burying the action in story line in order to create the characters ready for the next film.