Victor Frankenstein

"You know this story. A crack of lightning. A mad genius. An unholy creation," intones Daniel Radcliffe's Igor Strausman, who warns us at the start not to expect a literal re-telling of Mary Shelley's beloved horror classic. Instead, as imagined by writer Max Landis, this latest spin focuses on the relationship between the titular mad genius – played by James McAvoy – and his trusty associate Igor who becomes instrumental to his dream of re-animating the dead. Yes, though Victor first meets Igor as a nameless hunchback at the circus, the latter is in fact a gifted physician whose knowledge of the human anatomy makes him invaluable to Victor's plan of assembling various organs into an outer shell and introducing life into it.

But even before that, Victor recognises something special in the filthy clown with the rat's nest of a hair who rushes to the aid of a trapeze artist Lorelei (Jessica Brown Findlay) following a near- fatal fall during a show and manipulates her bones in order to save her life. So Victor decides to give the destitute sad-sack a new lease of life by first busting him out of the circus, where at his cavernous home cum laboratory, he proceeds to drain the fluid from the young man's massive abscess, fit him with a back brace, and give him the name of his absent flatmate Igor whom Victor says is a morphine addict who has not been seen for months. Igor is indebted to Victor, and so without much question, assists his 'saviour' in his experiment to bring life to a homunculus stitched from animal- part discards from the local zoo.

If you're waiting for the iconic hulking man-monster to appear, let us warn you that you'll have to wait until the very finale, which takes place on a very stormy evening in a remote Scottish castle right next to the sea. Indeed, this is less a movie about Victor actually creating his monster and what happens afterward than about the process leading up to that pivotal moment, which its director Paul McGuigan centres on a debate between theology and technology as well as an emotional complement in the bond between Victor and Igor. To introduce the former into the narrative, McGuigan interrupts the scientific proceedings with the entry of a moralistic Scotland Yard detective (Andrew Scott), whose past has not only made him a man of unwavering faith but also obsessed with stopping Victor's experiments he perceives as Satanic.

It is also this said inspector who causes Igor to question Victor's research, especially in the wake of Victor's Royal College of Medicine presentation of his first hodgepodge Prometheus which unsurprisingly does not end well. Not unsurprising too is how Victor is constructed as both the emotional and moral centre of the film – though he starts off subservient to Victor, Igor struggles with the ethical implications of using science to achieve immortality, which ultimately leaves him conflicted with the dilemma of sticking by the person who had rescued him from eternal ignominy or following his own conscience. Igor also finds his heart with Lorelei, who makes a somewhat amazing recovery to help Igor find his centre of being.

Though the romance is contrived, McAvoy and Radcliffe are actors with charm and gravitas, and they make good use of both qualities to keep us engaged in their bromance. McAvoy overdoes the mad-genius bit on more than one occasion, but is on the whole appropriately brash and obsessed to play the brilliant, extroverted yet socially bizarre Victor. At least Radcliffe complements his partner with a nicely understated performance, which expresses his character's anguished, good-hearted and conflicted nature at various points. Next to Victor, Igor is a much more straightforward persona, but Radcliffe does what he can to make us empathise with the latter's plight.

On his part, McGuigan keeps a tight balance between horror, drama, romance and even a few spots of comedy, while ensuring that the pace doesn't sag. No stranger to Victorian-era London from directing several episodes of 'Sherlock', he forgoes more handsome evocations for a more grimy and downbeat vision of 19th-century London that is more befitting of the grotesqueness of Victor's creations. Oh yes, despite the rating, you'd do well to note that some images are absolutely not for the squeamish, in particular because the film does not shy away from displaying the various organs of the body which Victor uses to assemble his unhuman work of science.

As an origin story, you could do much, much worse than 'Victor Frankenstein', which is loud and messy all right, but has a quieter, more grounded centre on its arguments of faith versus science as well as a compelling relationship between its two lead characters. That's provided of course that you're willing to accept a revisionist take in the first place, with Frankenstein played as a soulless hulk that is prone to violence but nothing more and relegated almost to an afterthought right at the end. Like we said, this isn't about the monster as we typically know it, but the journey leading up to its creation, one that is undeniably intriguing in itself.

Everyone knows the story of Frankenstein, whether or not you've seen the films. A mad scientist named Victor von Frankenstein, with help from his friend Igor, manage to reanimate a corpse consisting of different parts from different bodies. A monster, if you will. From a storytelling perspective, Victor Frankenstein is as run-of-the-mill as you can get. The only unique aspect is that it's told from Igor's perspective, which isn't much different since Victor is still a large part of the story. We all know what's going to happen. Even the first line is, "You know this story," and it proceeds to tell it to us again. The only conceivable reason I can think for this movie's existence is for the performances. James McAvoy is excellent as the mad genius, and Radcliffe does a fine job as his right-hand man. Andrew Scott is always nice to see, playing another antagonistic role as the inspector assigned to Frankenstein's case. And Charles Dance makes a small cameo for some reason as Victor's disapproving father. But the bulk of the movie revolves around Victor and Igor, as you can imagine, and it's exactly what you would expect, beat by beat.

Victor Frankenstein is not a bad movie in the traditional sense. If this was the first telling of this story, it would be a perfectly serviceable standalone film. But since it's so well-known, nothing about Victor Frankenstein is memorable. It's just the same narrative with different actors playing it out. No surprises, no innovations, no purpose. Just a talented cast reenacting a renowned tale.

"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.

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.

We follow the story, mainly with Igor. Igor is taken in by Victor Frankenstein; His life flips upside down, they become a team, and we, the audience continue to follow the adventures, as well as embodiment of these two characters, as they both create a scientific breakthrough. Or in this case, reanimation. Honestly, I found this movie to be a little misspoken for. I can see where many were expecting non - stop occurrences with the reanimated creature we've all come to know and love. Before anything else of this review, there is little of that. But here's the thing, does that make this entire thing bad? No. This film was actually creative, and quite good. First off, I honestly love the charm, and creativity of this story. The entire execution of the film's telling of this entire tale, I found to be flawless. The entire telling fell within the amazing character chemistry between Igor, and Victor. Which, by the way, both Daniel Radcliffe, and James McAvoy had amazing chemistry together. You could watch, and feel the connection their characters, if that, actors shared together. The characters in this film, while on the topic, were all around great. I can't emphasize this enough, horror, if that, thriller's now, usually have unlikeable characters - But not here. This film has characters that you could actually bare with, characters that'll you'll grow to, and actually bond with, sharing feelings for their actions. Of course, however, you have a small collection of characters you grow to dislike, but of course by intend of the film itself. I personally found the entire, overall plot, and storyline to be charming. I found the rescue, and bonding of savior friendship between Igor, and Victor to be all around charming, and just flat out awesome. It thrills us, audience, while at the same time develop feelings for the characters. Moving to visual elements, first of all, I honestly loved the entire visual effects of this film. I felt as if it was beautiful, and succeeded in giving us a flat out, solid display of the Victorian era, or in other words steam-punk. It felt intriguing to look at, visual eye-candy as far as the eye can see, giving an attention - grabbing effect. The camera work compliments as well, giving us some pretty well placed shots of which show the action sequences, as well as the meaningful ones. Lastly. I honestly liked the creations. The re-animated figures looked distorted, something they're supposed to succeed at. It didn't look cheap, and honestly was great for the time they came around, with their grotesque features, not too gory, or disgusting, but at the same time not too light, or cheap.

In conclusion, this film succeeds in a pleasant surprise. Once again, I can see where people get disappointed, as we see barely any real "Frankenstein" or in this case, the reanimated monster, at least not as much as many may of expected. However, the film succeeded in dismissing that, as we're giving many succeeding elements, including stunning visual effects, great, likable characters. I fun, at the same time thrilling story, and an overall unique charm that doesn't disappoint. Although, as said before this wasn't a strong "horror" but for what it was, aside the dismiss of the appearances of monsters, this was a fun film, enjoyable, and over all fantastic. I'd highly recommend this one.