The first 30 minutes of this cheap-looking monster drama are admittedly rough going. But once the “Twilight”-meets-“Sons of Anarchy” silliness kicks in, there’s a lovable lunacy at work.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
The cinematographic approach of the film suggests some unholy hybrid of the aesthetic and genre indulgences of Michael Bay and the hyper-literalist plot construction of Christopher Nolan.
This feature directing debut from X-Men, X2, and Watchmen screenwriter David Hayter is basically a bloodier, drastically more hirsute remake of Footloose set in the sleepy Canadian tax haven of Lupine Ridge, where most of the residents are actually… well, if you guessed “vampires,” you’re close.
The Hollywood Reporter by Frank Scheck
Largely forgoing the CGI effects usually endemic to such efforts, the film has the actors clad in werewolf suits and make-up designed by Dave and Lou Elsey that produce a slightly ludicrous effect, as if they were unusually large kids trick-or-treating. That the characters maintain their full powers of speech only adds to the silliness, although the hunky lead performers manage to carry it off with hirsute sexiness.
Los Angeles Times by Gary Goldstein
Writer-director David Hayter revisits much-trod territory with wan results in Wolves, a werewolf tale that quickly loses its initial bite.
The New York Times by Jeannette Catsoulis
Silly beyond words, Wolves is indifferently acted and unconvincingly realized.
It’s sexy, violent and creepy, but damn if it didn’t keep me glued to my chair with tension.
If you're in the bag for werewolves (or have a thing for hairy dudes smoking distinctive pipes), Wolves is a beckoning howl in the night. As an action movie, however, it's surprisingly tame.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service by Roger Moore
Hollywood will be hard pressed to top this lean Canadian indie picture that knows it’s just another dumb werewolf movie, but has fun with that knowledge.
RogerEbert.com by Simon Abrams
Wolves is consequently too violent to be a "Twilight" knockoff, and too cuddly to be an effectively freaky tale of a boy who, to paraphrase "Werewolf Bar Mitzvah," becomes a man while also becoming a wolf.