FRANKENSTEIN
**
Directed by Guillermo Del Toro.
Starring Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi, Mia Goth, Christoph Waltz.
Horror, US, 149 Minutes, Certificate 15.
Released in cinemas in the UK on 24th October by Netflix
For nearly his whole career Guillermo Del Toro has struggled to bring projects to the screen, most of which fall apart before filming ever begins, leaving audiences hanging with a list of tantalising What-If films. You can only imagine how superior his two-part adaptation of The Hobbit could have been compared to what we ended up with, or if his long promised adaptation of Lovecraft’s At The Mountains of Madness would have succeeded in bringing its troubled authors vision of cruel and ancient cosmic beings versus Tom Cruise in Antarctica to the masses. And what exactly would his version of Wind In The Willows look and feel like? Alongside these enticing prospects, with many others, it seemed that his long promised interpretation of Frankenstein, overshadowed them all but was destined to languish for eternity in Development Hell with the rest of these unrealised celluloid visions.
Enter Netflix. Say what you like about them setting up their own projects and canceling them at the drop of a hat or burying them under a mountain of far less compelling “content”, but at least every once in a while they are willing to open up their chequebooks in the interest of attracting top talent and letting them do whatever they want. After the success and acclaim of co-directing the stop-motion PINNOCHIO, the eponymous streaming service have granted the wish of Del Toro, and his legion of fans, to bring Mary Shelley’s forever influential novel to the screen in high style. So, after all these years and the countless adaptations is it worth the wait?
Well, there is no denying that Del Toro is certainly not letting the opportunity pass by without throwing every dollar he has been given onto the screen in grand style. Every set, location, costume and prop drips with detail giving the film a style that is unmistakably that of its director and screenwriter. With each successive US film, Del Toro has ramped up these aspects to such a degree that it can become slightly overbearing. It certainly looks nice but it now feels that such aspects may come at the expense of the story and its many themes.
Saying that, the film is divided into two parts, with the earlier section told from Victor Frankenstein’s point of view and the latter from his monstrous creation’s. It is Victor’s story that is the more entertaining of the two with Victor’s gory experiments laden with all manner of instrumentation, diagrams and artfully dissected corpses filling up the screen. As the mad doctor, Oscar Isaac seizes the part and plays to the rafters in fine, fun style with a near hammy turn reminiscent of vintage performances. With loss and grief affecting him in childhood, as well as a strained relationship with his strict and terse father, played by Charles Dance giving the same performance that he always does as well as playing the same part he did in VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN, Isaac channels these aspects into his driven character. Isaac’s swaggering arrogance is matched nicely by Christoph Waltz’s Heinrich, Victor’s benefactor who takes him from Edinburgh across Europe’s war torn fields to help with his quest for life after death, meeting Mia Goth’s kindly Elizabeth in the process.
Del Toro injects some of his own story notes into the early stages that will stand out to fans of the earlier films and the novel. The second half of the film where Victor’s creation takes center stage is far more familiar, with one extended sequence playing out as a far more mournful take on Gene Hackman’s scenes from YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN. As the monster, Jacob Elordi, gives a quieter performance with an accent that wanders all over Northern England and beyond. The theme of alienation, especially between fathers and sons, is hammered onto the screen once again for those who may have been too drunk earlier to take full notice, but this time with added digital wolves. It feels like the monster's story has been slightly abridged, as well as his long ranging pursuit and revenge on his creator, which feels odd when you consider the lengths Del Toro has gone to before in making us identify with his many creatures and monsters.
On the other hand, this is exactly what you would expect a Guillermo Del Toro Frankenstein film to look and feel like. It is enjoyable enough but despite all its gothic trappings and sumptuous detailing, it is hard not to feel short changed, especially when compared to the likes of James Whale’s 1930’s masterpieces. If anything, it feels closer in spirit to Kenneth Branagh’s MARY SHELLEY’S FRANKENSTEIN, which attempted something similar but still rang hollow. The epic scope and Promethean themes of the original novel still await a definitive adaptation. As a night out at the pictures, it will do, but the majority of its audience will be experiencing it on far smaller screens, where it is destined to become just another thumbnail on the screen, which will be flicked past to get to the next shiny new thing. Discarded, much like the monster at the heart of it all here.
Iain MacLeod