"You know this story. The crackling lightning. The mad genius. An unholy creation."
And so opens up the lastest interpretation of Mary Shelley's legendary novel-turned-pop culture myth. So, what does this version add to the time-tested tale? Surprisingly, a fair amount.
An amalgamation of various film versions (taking most of its cues from Universal and Hammer), this film tells the origins of Victor Frankenstein through the eyes of a nameless hunchback who, after a quick and very nasty surgery, is dubbed Igor. It tells the story of how the world around Victor reacts to his experiments, from the conniving entrepeuneur to the over-zealous man of faith trying to stop him.
And how does it all hold up? Again, surprisingly really well. The chemistry between Daniel Radcliffe and James McAvoy sparks the film up quite a few notches while Andrew Scott, Jessica Brown Findlay and Freddie Fox all make good work of their admittedly under-developed supporting roles.
The direction by Paul McGuigan is energetic and lively, even if the pace is a tad too frenetic at times. The use of practical effects for the monstrosities that our heroes bring to life are impressive to behold and everything is boasted by a powerfully theatrical score by Craig Armstrong and some beautiful production design by Eve Stewart.
As I said, pacing is a tad too fast and certain bits of writing could've used some tweaking, but the cast and enthusiastic direction definitely make this a more than worthy entry into the Frankenstein mythos that I will gladly welcome into my collection as soon as it makes its to Blu-Ray/DVD.
I'm pleased to say that it is very much alive.
