Victor Frankenstein
Don't Go! Needs more purpose to bring it to life.
Victor(ian) doctor builds meaty man.
Ahh, Christmas time: mistletoe and wine, baubley trees and twinkly lights. And who can forget the classic nativity story? A baby in a manger, visited upon by shepherds and kings, who brought the wee one precious gifts of gold, Frankenstein and myrrh. Wait, what?! Frankenstein? The story about a monster made out of bits of dead meat pasted together like a broken fleshy teapot or a Lady Gaga Dress?? Are you sure that was part of the nativity? Ummm, pretty sure, which makes Victor Frankenstein a perfect movie to get us into the Christmas spirit.
Starring James McAvoy (X-Men: Days of Future Past) as Victor and Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter Series) as his assistant Igor, Victor Frankenstein is a retelling of Mary Shelly's well-worn, 19th Century tale. Victor, a young, ambitious scientist seeks to create life by his own hand. With the help of Igor and some stormy weather, he achieves it, but struggles to come to terms with the grotesqueness of his creation. To keep things moving, religiously-minded Inspector Turpin (Andrew Scott, Spectre) suspects an immorality behind Victor's work and makes it his mission to stop him. Whereas the creature itself has traditionally been the focus of other Frankenmovies, this effort from Scottish director Paul McGuigan (Lucky Number Slevin) imagines more about the men behind the monster. The organs of the story therefore differ from the original book, but keep the same skeletal casing. Given that Frankenstein's story has been recycled more times than London's drinking water, that is potentially no bad thing.
Starring James McAvoy (X-Men: Days of Future Past) as Victor and Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter Series) as his assistant Igor, Victor Frankenstein is a retelling of Mary Shelly's well-worn, 19th Century tale. Victor, a young, ambitious scientist seeks to create life by his own hand. With the help of Igor and some stormy weather, he achieves it, but struggles to come to terms with the grotesqueness of his creation. To keep things moving, religiously-minded Inspector Turpin (Andrew Scott, Spectre) suspects an immorality behind Victor's work and makes it his mission to stop him. Whereas the creature itself has traditionally been the focus of other Frankenmovies, this effort from Scottish director Paul McGuigan (Lucky Number Slevin) imagines more about the men behind the monster. The organs of the story therefore differ from the original book, but keep the same skeletal casing. Given that Frankenstein's story has been recycled more times than London's drinking water, that is potentially no bad thing.
Set in Victorian(ish) times, it looks much like Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes or magician's tale The Prestige, suggesting that there is now a cinematic consensus of what is "authentically" Victorian(ish). This is largely a compliment, as 19th Century London is enjoyably restored along with a costume extravaganza. Patterned, velveteen waistcoats meet plush, sky-scraping top hats, a comforting presence of tweed and Igor's thick, bobbed, side-parted hairdo. The scientific gadgets and gismos look appropriately rudimentary, but with plent of imaginary bits and bobs to add to the theatre of the film.
"Theatrical" is probably the best way to describe Victor Frankenstien. McAvoy is a scintillating actor, and puts all of his considerable talent into this performance; but the result is frustratingly (ahem) hammy. His intense, crazed spitting and wide-eyed yelling just doesn't fit with a film which is more pantomime than play. It could have been a very dark and magnanimous performance, but there is a constant air of comedy that lingers more persistently than the aroma of turkey into a new year. As for Daniel Radcliffe, the thick air of Hogwarts still hangs around him like a mist; so difficult is it to sever him from 10 years of Pottering around. With each different role, he is gradually clearing the air, but every so often an "Expelliarmus!" spell still seems to be the next thing likely to come out of his mouth. Andrew Scott's Inspector Turpin struggles to find his place in the film, feeling like an unnecessary imposition on proceedings; and a weak love story between Igor and former circus performer, Lorelei (Jessica Brown Findlay, The Riot Club) adds little warmth.
"Theatrical" is probably the best way to describe Victor Frankenstien. McAvoy is a scintillating actor, and puts all of his considerable talent into this performance; but the result is frustratingly (ahem) hammy. His intense, crazed spitting and wide-eyed yelling just doesn't fit with a film which is more pantomime than play. It could have been a very dark and magnanimous performance, but there is a constant air of comedy that lingers more persistently than the aroma of turkey into a new year. As for Daniel Radcliffe, the thick air of Hogwarts still hangs around him like a mist; so difficult is it to sever him from 10 years of Pottering around. With each different role, he is gradually clearing the air, but every so often an "Expelliarmus!" spell still seems to be the next thing likely to come out of his mouth. Andrew Scott's Inspector Turpin struggles to find his place in the film, feeling like an unnecessary imposition on proceedings; and a weak love story between Igor and former circus performer, Lorelei (Jessica Brown Findlay, The Riot Club) adds little warmth.
Performances and secondary story-lines aside, it is the relationship between the two lead characters that should still give the film its purpose, but in spite of all their inner conflicts and the unusual events surrounding them, the film struggles to bring it to life. This is down to the amount of ground Victor Frankenstein tries to cover, leaving us uncertain of the characters' motivation. It creates a confused Frankenstein's monster of themes, which include science vs religion; morality and ethics; progress and the capability of human intellect; life and death; power and the corrupt ambition of wealth; the ostracism of deformity; the intoxicating effect of love and bereavement; inadequacy in the eyes of an illustrious father; the border between psychosis and genius. Casually stitched together, it is almost impossible to take all of these ideas seriously or cover them in any depth during a 1 hour 40 minute cavalcade dressed in ostentatious sideburns. It becomes more like a Marvel comic book than a Shakesperian tragedy, with too much flamboyance and fizz to carry the weight of the themes and the density of the script.
So don't go. It is an exhausted revisiting of a saturated story; a story that needs much fresher life breathed into it on screen if it is to have renewed relevance in today's world.
So don't go. It is an exhausted revisiting of a saturated story; a story that needs much fresher life breathed into it on screen if it is to have renewed relevance in today's world.
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