Victor Frankenstein

Greetings again from the darkness. If a filmmaker is going to mess with the classics, there are two paths of creativity from which to choose: stay true to the original, or put a new spin on it. In this case, the classics in question are the nearly 200 year old novel from Mary Shelley (1818) and the nearly 85 year old movie from James Whale (1931). The filmmakers doing the messing are director Paul McGuigan (Lucky Number Slevin) and screenwriter Max Landis (son of director John). The spin they chose was (in theory) to tell the story from the perspective of Igor, the loyal assistant to Dr. Frankenstein.

It's an interesting approach, but one that immediately presents a problem … since the title they chose was not "Igor", but rather Victor Frankenstein. The film does begin with Igor's backstory in the circus as a hunchbacked clown/amateur doctor, and the character does provide some early and late narration. The conundrum stems from the fact that pretty much everything else in the movie is centered on the mad scientist, rather than the skilled apprentice/partner.

Daniel Radcliffe plays Igor and James McAvoy plays Victor Frankenstein (not Fron-kin-steen, in a nod to Mel Brooks), and both actors seem to be doing everything possible to bring energy and enthusiasm to a movie that can't seem to decide if it's a reboot or a reimagining or simply an origin story. Radcliffe effectively uses his physicality as the circus clown who is so mistreated and misunderstood, and McAvoy is such a hyper-active mad scientist that I'm sure his fellow actors many times were inclined to advise "say it, don't spray it". McAvoy does seem to be having a grand old time playing the brilliant yet unhinged young doctor-to-be, and to his credit takes a much different approach than Colin Clive when he gets to the infamous line "It's ALIVE!" The best parts of the movie are the intricate and amazing sets, the monster himself (albeit too brief), and the expert use of classical music and film score. The circus sets are colorful and active, while Frankenstein's soap factory home/laboratory is fascinating and creative, and the final Scotland castle on a cliff is breath-taking. Pulleys, chains and cranks are everywhere … as is an incredible amount of body parts, organs and fluids.

After a very well done circus opening, we are jarred with a seemingly out of place action sequence involving a slo-motion chase and fight scene that seems to be attempting to mimic some of the recent Sherlock Holmes movie stunts. Here they are unwelcome and ruin the flow. Another aspect that seems forced and unnecessary is a romantic interlude between Igor and a trapeze artist (played by Jessica Brown Findlay). It feels like an add-on to remind us that it's supposed to be Igor's story. Additionally, Andrew Scott plays an intriguing Scotland Yard Inspector who is every bit as obsessed with his faith-based beliefs as Victor is with his science-has-no-bounds stance. A story told from the Inspector's perspective might have worked, but instead it comes across as another add-on. Another add-on is the filthy rich and very devious fellow med student (played by Freddie Fox) who agrees to fund the experiments, but mostly the character is an after-thought necessary to move the plot along. Wasted is the always menacing Charles Dance, who has but one scene as Victor's strongly disapproving daddy.

A combination of the romance, minimal role of Igor in the grand finale, the medical school bumbling, the clunky Inspector involvement, and the all too brief monster appearance makes the film all but impossible for viewers to connect. They tell us twice "You know the story … a crack of lightning, a mad genius, and an unholy creation", but the reality is, the fact that we know the story, makes this one all the more disappointing. It's fun to look at, but is lacking the depth and soul that has allowed Shelley's book to stand up over two centuries.

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.

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.

"Victor Frankenstein" is a weird movie using Mary Shelley's notorious and famous character. There are many versions of this adaptation of the novel to the cinema, but this one rewrites the story in a totally different situation. The result is entertaining and intriguing in the beginning but becomes boring and annoying in the end. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Victor Frankenstein"

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.