‘Werewolf’ Charmless, Incoherent
Late in “An American Werewolf in Paris,” a Frenchman sarcastically thanks a club full of young Americans for all the great culture their country has added to the world. Funny, but this movie is just the kind of Hollywood product that those cranky Europeans crab about.
Not quite a remake of or sequel to John Landis’ 1981 horrific comedy “An American Werewolf in London,” director Anthony Waller’s new movie tells another werewolf story involving American students traveling overseas.
Three guys arrive in Paris by train and have been trying to one-up each other as to who can perform the most impressive daredevil stunt. Andy is about to bungee jump off the Eiffel Tower when he spots a beautiful young blonde (Julie Delpy) about to leap to her death.
After a dramatic mid-air rescue - the movie’s best, most fanciful sequence - he encounters her again and learns she’s a werewolf, and she lives with another werewolf. In fact, there’s a gang of werewolves. Pretty soon Andy’s a werewolf, too, and some other people are dead, and the police are after him, and the other werewolves are after him, and there’s a lot of running around and screaming.
Director Waller displays a nice eye early on, but by the time the unconvincing computer-graphics werewolves are running amok, so is the movie. You get an incoherent car chase, blatant Christ imagery and gory attacks upon and by creatures you don’t care about.
Where’s the fun? Even the first movie’s playful soundtrack - consisting entirely of moon songs - has been replaced by gothic choral music and pounding rock meant to sell CDs.
“An American Werewolf in Paris” doesn’t even have the guts to be true to its original premise. It presents a possible antidote to werewolfness so the lead characters might be saved for future “American Werewolf” installments.
xxxx “An American Werewolf In Paris” Location: East Sprague, North Division and Coeur d’Alene cinemas Credits: Directed by Anthony Waller, starring Tom Everett Scott and Julie Delpy Running time: 1:39 Rating: R