When I first saw the trailers for this
film I was excited, it looked like a cool take on the Frankenstein
story starting two actors I like a lot; Daniel Radcliffe and James McAvoy.
When the first lot of reviews came in they were pretty poor, at least
the US critics while in the UK it has been getting more favourable
write up's. So I ended up going in not sure what to expect, I could
end up hating it or loving it, and I'm happy to say that it's the
latter.
So this film is a retelling of the
Frankenstein story from the point of view of his sidekick Igor, this
time around he isn't a poorly educated assistant to the mad Doctor
but an equal partner and friend. This is one of the best part's of
the film as Daniel Radcliffe's Igor and James McAvoy's Frankenstein
play off each other fantastically and the friendship between these
characters as well as the mutual respect they have for each other
really shines through, something even the poor reviews seem to agree
on. One scene that stands out is when Frankenstein shows Igor an
early experiment, and while impressed Igor points out a mistake the
Doctor made, many films would have had the Doctor be angry but
instead he is over joyed to see that Igor was intelligent enough to
spot it.
These version's of the characters are a
bit different to what we have come to expect, McAvoy's Frankenstein
is a mad eccentric medical student, loud, full of energy and possibly drunk, often neglecting his studies in favour of his own
experiments. He is a man that seems to find the mundane life of
those around him boring and is completely obsessed with his work, but
there is depth to him as we learn his backstory and why he feels he
must create life. Igor, a character who for decades has been
modelled on Fritz from the 1931 film is a very different character
here, though he starts off as a circus clown once he teams up with
Frankenstein it's revealed he is not hunchback, a fluid build up in
his back has giving him the appearance of one, something the Doctor
treats right away. Igor is also very intelligent, having self taught
himself about anatomy and the human body from books and it's a
demonstration of his knowledge that drawn Frankenstein to him. Both
leads play their parts well, playing off each other fantastically and are a joy to watch.
The rest of the cast is on fine form
too with Jessica Brown Findlay as Igor's love interest Lorelei,
Freddie Fox as fellow medical student Finnegan, and Andrew Scott as a
Scotland Yard Inspector who wants to bring Frankenstein down as he
believes his creations are the devils work. Charles Dance and Mark
Gatiss also have small roles in the film. You can tell everyone was just having a blast on set.
Another thing I love about this film is
its production design, from the circus where Frankenstein first meets
Igor to the fantastic almost steam-punk looking lab sets, this film
has a great look and I was especially impressed with the grimy
streets of early nineteenth century London, which could of looked
grey and boring but instead bursted from the screen with large
colourful billboards and crowds of people everywhere you look. I'm a
big fan of the ascetics of this time period and they look fantastic
here.
The plot is where my opinion on the
film wavers a bit, while there is a lot to like and some great ideas
such as showing us Frankenstein's early creations, there are a few
bits that I feel could have been improved on. The film opens showing
up Igor's life in the circus where he is treated very badly by almost
everyone around him, I enjoyed these scenes but they are over very
quickly as he meets Frankenstein and escapes about ten minutes into
the film. I would have enjoyed more time spent here especially in
relation to Lorelei, whom he tells us through narration is the only
person at the circus to be kind to him, but we don't really see this
and it's not until later in the film when they meet up again that she
has any substantial dialogue. There is also a character who takes a
villainous turn latter in the film that pushes the plot forward briefly but doesn’t amount to much in
the end, though perhaps it didn't need to. But to be fair these
are small issues I have with what is a very fun film.
The film also contains references to
may other Frankenstein films, such as the Universal films and even
Young Frankenstein gets a nod, screen writer Max Landis is clearly a
fan of this story and wanted to work that love into this script. There is also some clear inspiration taken from Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes but this film is still its own beast.
I must admit when I came out the cinema
I was so so on the film and wasn't sure if I would recommend it or
not, but thinking back the stuff I liked far outweighs the stuff I
didn't and I had a lot of fun watching this one. So yes I do
recommend this film, it's good fun, a dark campy film with a slick
style and seance of humour.
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