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Lead Critic for the site, as well as serving as an editor when needed.
Jon Watts’ latest film, which sees him return to scripting, is entertaining enough. Yet, the script itself is the main drag of Wolfs. Wolfs also gives audiences a reunion between George Clooney (From Dusk Till Dawn, the Ocean’s franchise, Burn After Reading) and Brad Pitt (12 Monkeys, the Ocean’s franchise, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Burn After Reading, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Bullet Train) on screen, both of whom do the best with the material they are provided.
Wolfs shows promise despite its straight-to-streaming release. However, much of the humor derives from the two lead actors continually insulting one another, to the chagrin of the audience. The film wastes no time introducing the two lone wolf fixers, played by Pitt and Clooney. The quickness of the film’s plot is a great addition. At the same time, that isn’t to say that several elements could have been eliminated from Wolfs‘s final cut, and doing so could have actually helped the loose third act.
Cut from the Same Cloth
Even though Watts didn’t do much writing on his Spider-Man films, being that they are set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, they had a certain sense of humor, like it or not. Wolfs‘s script has some of that same flavor, which only works for the film’s first half. Many of the bits in the film reoccur in a slightly annoying fashion. The same can be said about the main characters’ (Pitt and Clooney) shared ideology. They spend many moments of the film contemplating how to handle a situation they’d rather walk away from. Unsurprisingly, the film’s final moments discuss how they work for the same person.
Weirdly, some of the action sequences feel like a shoot-em-up film, but way less rehearsed and inexperienced. They aren’t really distracting but had these moments been handled with greater care the final product could have had some interestingly cool action sequences. In that same sense, some of the script work in these moments feels slightly lazy, as if to relieve the kinks in post-production.
Some of the film’s expository dialogue, given by the Kid (Austin Abrams), is slightly amusing but continues to remind the audience how lazy the script is. Despite that, he does keep the fixers on their toes, as they eventually gain some form of conscience and let him live. Once the film concludes, it’s as if Brad Pitt and George Clooney’s characters find themselves in a conspiracy theory for whatever odd reason, setting the stage for another story that isn’t needed.
Childish Humor
Wolfs‘s comedic bits work for a few moments then continue to retread the same joke over and over again. At other points, they also resort to geriatric uses of swear words. This is fine but feels incongruous in the dialogue as every other word. The fixers also never present their real names in the film and the final lines make note of this odd fact. Considering who was cast in these lead roles, Wolfs lends itself to old man jokes at every turn. One could consider that Brad Pitt and George Clooney were fine with this, but even then, it just isn’t that funny.
The main draw of this film is the two leads, and they are entertaining enough. However, there is a moment where they are both thrown into a dance number and that entire sequence is largely unnecessary. Moreover, other bits do work well enough, though, such as the back and forth of their techniques to accomplish tasks.
Technical Elements
Jon Watts’s direction is a saving grace of the film. The film’s various long shots and steady tracking shots are welcoming. Director of Photography Larkin Seiple’s camera work wants to keep Pitt and Clooney on display more than anyone else, for better or worse. The winter setting is charming enough and the few mentions of the Christmas season through production designer Jade Healy’s set pieces are refreshing. The audience does not always need a dense reminder of Christmas through conversation.
Watts’s screenwriting is mostly lackluster. His storytelling presents the fixers as goofy in many ways. Several plot points could have been omitted entirely, e.g. one scene with Richard Kind that feels entirely unnecessary. The slight notion of a sequel, in an effort to tell more about the fixers’ job, isn’t as welcoming as it seems either. However, a co-writer added to a potential second film could be refreshing.
Final Thoughts
Wolfs is a sufficiently entertaining release for the AppleTV+ streaming platform. The film could have potentially been a hit in theatres due to Brad Pitt and George Clooney’s chemistry alone. However, it does feel like a film that one could put on and play in the background. The two leads are convincing enough to warrant several laughs and keep the audience wanting to watch them continue their goofy antics.
3/5 stars
Jon Watts’s Wolfs is now streaming on AppleTV+!
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Lead Critic for the site, as well as serving as an editor when needed.
This article was edited by John Tangalin.