Benicio Del Toro is in talks with J.J. Abrams to take on the role of a villain in the second “Star Trek” movie. Such a perfect fit comes along very rarely in this world. Benicio Del Toro already kind of looks like a creature from alien world. He doesn’t even need much makeup. Of course, the same could be said for the role of a werewolf and the chumps in charge of remaking “The Wolfman” barely realized this fact. Instead, they attempted to use about a third of their budget turning Del Toro into a wolfish creature.
To suggest that Benicio Del Toro has wolfish or alien appearances is not the seeming insult it may be appear to be. Rather, the suggestion here is that filmmakers put their trust in Del Toro’s substantial acting abilities. When you already possess the countenance of a certain type of character, your director should have the confidence in your ability as a thespian to create a character without the necessity for piling on the makeup or the computer generated facial features. “The Wolfman” was overblown in every sense of the word; rather than coming up with a story to match Del Toro’s acting talent, what you got was, well, I can’t even say because I found myself unable to sit through the entire movie. I think I may have left about a third of the way through and never looked back.
Would hate to be able to say the same thing about the “Star Trek” sequel, but do not really feel as though it is a probability. Abrams proved himself more than capable of taking over the galaxy inhabited by Vulcans, Romulans and Kirk and doing something new with it. While Abrams’ “Star Trek” was nowhere near as impressive as the best episodes of “Deep Space Nine” the movie roundly improved upon the original story episodes upon which it was based. Bringing in Benicio Del Toro does not seem to smack of the same lunacy among the makers of the new “Trek” movie that wound up making “The Wolfman” one of the all time great stinkeroo reboots. But does Abrams have the intellectual disposition to take advantage of Del Toro’s naturally interesting facial appearance and let him utilize to the great advantage that he has in other movies or will he destroy the entire point of casting Benicio by hiding him behind makeup or computerized enhancements?
For more from Timothy Sexton, who also looks somewhat otherworldly, check out:
How Martin Luther King, Jr. Helped Keep Lt. Uhura on the Bridge of the Enterprise
Everything You Know About Wolfmen Was Created By Screenwriter Robert Siodmak