Victor Frankenstein

Perhaps the Frankenstein name is indeed cursed, there hasn't been a great Frankenstein based movie in years, even decades. From last year's I, Frankenstein to Van Helsing who only has it as subplot, all have met mediocre fate. Now armed with robust acting power and visual that oozes Victorian era, also a bit or horror and action attached somewhere, another rendition shares the same exact fate; cinematic tediousness.

A slight modification to the narrative is made, just like Sherlock the movie is narrated from the sidekick's perspective, in this case Igor's (Daniel Radcliffe). Aside from that, there's barely anything new that hasn't been done in similar or better fashion. To its credit, it's not utterly terrible in term of presentation, in fact the visual is rather nice. It's quaintly dark and electric version of last decade metropolis, Tesla would approve.

James McAvoy as the titular Viktor really tries hard on establishing the character. Given the stale material, he still manages to squeeze some emotional scenes as well as a good chemistry with Radcliffe in a bromantic kind of way. Andrew Scott from Moriarty fame, now plays the role of Inspector Turpin. He's the polar opposite of Viktor, conservative yet equally clever and ambitious.

Unfortunately, the far too familiar plot fails to produce any thrill, the strong acting prowess ends up rehearsing the same routine of mad scientist's banter. There's screaming, philosophical argument, faux science and slight mental abuse by the two leads. It's a lot of noise of little dramatic effect. Not that the script is bad in any way, it has occasional witty lines although any hint of humor or charm is muffled by the overly melancholy tone.

At some points, the movie tries to dabble in horror, action and even romance subplot. The atmosphere is already primed for thriller, but the shocking abomination is ironically timid and unmemorable. Action consists of a few scenes of slow motions repetition. Despite the production offering distractions, the main story line is very straightforward and streamlined, and sadly also predictable.

For all the star and flair, though they might be mildly amusing, the end product is a medium so lacking of life.

"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.

Does that mean that it's better than others? Maybe not, but maybe you are looking for a new way of telling a story that you are familiar with. Some do not like this, others really cherish the way this movie went. And it's up to the viewer to decide what he wants from a Frankenstein movie. A theme that I'm pretty sure everyone watching has heard of at least, before watching the movie.

Since I haven't read the novel, I'm not sure if some of the "changes" are already in the book, but weren't used before in other adaptations. Both main actors are really good and convey the characters they portray. With all their flaws and downfalls, with all their dreams and hopes. Whether you agree with those or not, this is more than a decent effort and a really good movie

It's the story of Professor Frankenstein and his creation as you'd expect, but it's primarily the study of Igor, his man servant, we get his history, his present, and a glimpse into his future.

It's a very good film, it's very nicely made, beautifully acted, it's a very nice gothic drama. I would argue it's not a horror as the classification states, if you are wanting lots of Monster action there isn't a great deal of that, what there is looks fantastic.

Great special effects, particularly at the dramatic finale, it looks terrific.

Not sure which of the two was billed as the star of the show, maybe an equal billing, but Radcliffe is excellent. I love how on occasion you hear McAvoy's wonderful Scottish accent peep through.

Clever and well made, 7/10.

The opening shot, blurry, a figure moving in slow motion, brought to my mind a scene in the book of the monster seen going across the snow- covered landscape from a distance, ... but that is about as close to the book as the film gets, which is both good and bad. It's good because it tells an original take on the story, but it's also bad because it tells a mostly satirical story, told from Igor's perspective, largely poking fun at the clichés in the various film versions of Frankenstein, rather than a faithful adaptation of the novel.

James McAvoy hams it up as Victor Frankenstein, with a brilliant intro ("Might I know your name?" Igor asks him, Vic turns to look at Igor, freeze frame, title appears) while the rest of the cast downplays it nicely, Jessica Findlay is quite attractive, even in the unrevealing Victorian-era clothing. The film is sightly more serious than its comedic-looking trailer made it appear. Good sets and costumes, and some quick witted, sharp dialogue, but the story never really comes alive (pun totally intended)

Curiously released at Thanksgiving 2015, it might have fared better than its $600.000 opening if it had been released at Halloween. Considering this was filmed in late 2013, it surely must have been ready for Halloween 2015, or 2014 for that matter.