Wolfs belongs in the cinema. That should be said in advance. The production of the streaming service Apple TV+ offers old-school star cinema, without big effects, but you don’t need them, if you can lure George Clooney and Brad Pitt in front of a camera.
The two stars from Ocean’s Eleven and Burn After Reading haven’t done that for 15 years. Something like that should really be celebrated by saying goodbye to the couch for two hours and heading to the cinema. But there is currently no German cinema release for Wolfs, which premiered on Sunday at the Venice Film Festival.
Wolfs was expensive, but fortunately you can’t tell
In advance, the action comedy made headlines mainly because of its costs. Clooney and Pitt alone are said to have received 35 million dollars each as a fee(only?) 15 million went to the director Jon Watts (Spider-Man: Homecoming), as the New York Times reported. This did not even cover the cost of filming, let alone the filming and staff. The reason for the reports was cost-cutting measures at the streamer Apple TV+. The international theatrical releases of Wolfs, which Apple productions such as Killers of the Flower Moon and Napoleon still enjoyed, also fell victim to this.
Check out the trailer for Wolfs:
Wolves – Trailer (German) HD
Putting aside the high budget, you shouldn’t expect Wolfs to be a blockbuster with fireworks of effects. That’s what sets it apart from Netflix extravaganzas like Red Notice, for example. Wolfs comes in a smaller format and tells a seemingly simple story with style, verve and plenty of humor.
Brad Pitt and George Clooney are experts in removing traces in Wolf
The two veteran stars play professionals in Wolf’s who earn their money by playing the most eliminate bloody problems of influential peopleThey know how to discreetly dispose of bodies, how to remove compromising evidence and where to get help in the underworld for a problem. However, they are subject to at least one misconception: that they are special.
When George Clooney’s lone wolf is called to the hotel room of politician Margaret (Amy Ryan) to clear up a botched one-night stand, he learns the hard way that he is not the only one with this job. A competitor (Brad Pitt) is also knocking on the door. Together they are given the task of sweeping the story under the carpet. This is complicated by the discovery of a load of drugs – and the fact that the “corpse” (Austin Abrams) in the hotel room still has a pulse.
This is followed by a sharp crime comedy with a handful of creative action sequences A chase on foot and by car through snowy New York is particularly impressive. It’s all pretty down-to-earth, a far cry from John Wick and Co. Author and director Jon Watts tells the story of the two lone wolves at a brisk pace, consistently amusing, but not overloaded with bullet-train-like chatter.
The real winner of Wolfs is another
AppleTV+
Brad Pitt and George Clooney have to get along in Wolfs
For Jon Watts, Wolfs represents a return to his own film roots. Before the billion-dollar Spider-Man trilogy with Tom Holland, he caused a stir with the Kevin Bacon thriller Cop Car, which was as sleek as its title sounds. This talented genre storyteller was swallowed up by the Marvel machine.
Watts’ sense of coming-of-age stories remained intact in the Spidey adventures, but the look and especially the action sequences were lost in the monotony of Marvel’s visual strategy. What makes a Jon Watts film stand out became a question without an answer after three Spider-Man films.
Wolfs now takes us back to the beginning, which is why he emerges as the biggest winner from the film, regardless of the money. Watts has not made a second Burn After Reading, but the Coen brothers lack originality, including in their handling of the two stars. However, the script keeps us entertained with some clever ideas, while Clooney and Pitt confidently do their thingwhere they also poke fun at their increasing age. It’s charming and goes by quicker than you can say “annual subscription to a streaming service”. Wolfs is only really fun in a packed cinema.
Wolfs premiered out of competition in Venice. The film will be released on September 27th on the streaming service Apple TV+ in Germany.