Hello everyone and welcome to a brand new review! For this one, I am going to be looking into one of the more prominent films in the awards race this season, as well as the latest from director, Guillermo Del Toro. This one is a big one for him, as this is film he has been wanting to make for a while, going through different studios before finally taking the project to Netflix. I am huge fan of his work as I love see the stories he creates and how he is willing to tackle different kinds of genres, often having a gothic/horror leaning bent at times. I also love the story of Frankenstein and with this being an iteration that is more close to the story of the book, I was ecstatic to see how Del Toro would tackle it. Now that it is out after all this time, was this a story worth bringing back to life? Let’s jump right in and see what kind of creation Del Toro had cooking for many years!
Split up into three parts, we kick things off in the icy setting of the North Pole where a Navy ship known as the Horisont gets stuck in the ice, with Captain Anderson set on continuing his expedition no matter the cost. However, things ramp up considerably when they stumble upon a gravely injured man named Victor as well as a ravenous monster who seems to be going after him. The Captain tends to Victor, who goes on to tell his story of how he came to be in this situation. He tells of his up brining and how he came to the idea of being able to create life… and the consequences of trying to play God.
One thing that I really admire about Del Toro’s direction here, is that he is able to tell this story in a way that takes quite a bit of Mary Shelley’s original work and stays true to it, while taking many creative liberties that manage to work really well in my opinion. The morality of the two main characters lean heavily in certain directions, whereas in the book it was much more complex, but I think in doing this we are still given an engaging tale about the folly of man and consequences of trying to play God. The opposed viewpoints of Victor and the Monster are showcased thoroughly where enough is shown to perfectly make one understand why they are the way they that they are and develop into who they become by the end of the story. Del Toro presents the this dynamic in a way that is like a tale of a father and his son, and how in trying to prove his father wrong, Victor ends up becoming the very thing that he absolutely detested and almost doesn’t realize it until way too late. It’s one of the more compelling takes on the cycle of violence I’ve seen in quite some time and I feel it is an appropriate way to extend the ideas Shelley was working with.
It becomes almost frustrating to watch Victor make the decisions he makes over the course, but in a way that made me curious as to where would things shake up by the end and how far Del Toro would veer away from the story. He ends up taking on a tone that is a lot more hopeful and less morally ambiguous than the original text, while still not being afraid to tackle some of the darker subject matters inherently present. The proceedings are able to remain consistently engaging throughout with the more exposition heavy scenes managing to get across all the information in a way that doesn’t get too bogged down in technical jargon and with some solid dialogue thrown in to make it more entertaining. Now, while I do think the movie is well paced for the most part, there are some moments where I find myself wishing they had lingered a bit more. This is most prominent in the Monster’s storyline which feels a tad more rushed compared to Victor’s story, though still being excellently executed nonetheless.
What also makes this adaptation a treat is how Del Toro presents it, with this being a production that just pops off the screen like eye candy. He does a great job in bringing to life key visuals and locations from Shelley’s book, while also using his own imagination to make it all his own. His gothic tendencies are absolutely present in the location designs which are showcased beautifully and with a sense of grandness that the director is very good at bringing to his work. The production design is a sight to behold with so much work done in bringing all of these different places to life with Victor’s tower being this vast labyrinth filled with so many different rooms, with each representing a different part of him (his lab representing his scientific side, the creature’s prison symbolizing his dark side, etc.) and all of the different poverty stricken villages and ornate palaces are amazingly realized with much detail being brought to each one. Visually speaking there is much to admire with the use of colors and lighting doing an excellent job in capturing the mood of a given scene and representing character emotions.
Same goes for the costumes which are all beautifully designed and give us a sense of each character with Elizabeth’s fashion choices especially making it clear of what she is feeling in a given scene. Alexandre Desplat’s score is also able to add to the mood of the movie, with strings being utilized beautifully at times to tap into the more humanist approach Del Toro is going for with the Monster or to bring on the more gothic touch in other parts. Credit must also go to the make up team who are going to be much deserving of an Academy Award win for their work on the Creature. It is a different look than one may be used to when thinking of the iconic Monster, but it still is able to walk a fine line between, looking monstrous when it is intended to be, while also showing glimpses of real humanity. The emotions are able to be shown off and it just remarkable work that is only enhanced by what Jacob Elordi is able to do with the role (more on that in a bit).
As for how well our two main characters are portrayed, I think both do performers do a spectacular job in doing what the script requires of them. Oscar Isaac is incredibly good at getting across Victor’s scientific intelligence, but Del Toro writes the character in a way where anything outside of science, he finds himself not quite as bright with a lack of empathy and regard for feelings being present. Thanks to the backstory given to him and the harsh relationship he has with his strict physician, father (Charles Dance, excellently playing to type once again), there is an understanding of why he chooses to pursue this mission and why he becomes who becomes as the movie goes along, but Del Toro does succeed in making him more and more unsympathetic as the film goes along, revealing a lot about the character’s inner nature. Isaac plays it over the top when going full mad scientist and is able to convincingly show Victor’s transformation into becoming more despicable and petty, while also (and this is important to his arc working) making it also convincing when he feels remorse during the movie’s framing device. On the opposite side of the spectrum, Elordi is shockingly astounding as the Creature and is able to make him into such a sympathetic character. I honestly did not know what to expect from him, but he is able to emote so much with all of that incredible make up on him and express a lot with limited to almost no vocabulary, with his tone of voice and face doing much of the heavy lifting. Seeing him learn about humanity is both heartbreaking due to how much abuse he suffers under Victor’s “parental guidance”, but can also be some of the most poignant stuff of the year. I very much like how the movie expands upon his dynamic with the farm family, in particular the Blind Man, who is soulfully played by David Bradley, who ends up being the light that shows him the beauty life can hold and how he can be a good man. It stands as one of the very best interpretation of this character and exemplifies why being different from the source material, could still mean something worthwhile can be had.
The other characters are there to mostly provide support but all have their own kind of relationship with one or two of our leads that makes the story as a whole more compelling. As mentioned, Mia Goth makes for a terrific moral compass, making Elizabeth into a strong willed character who shows a great appreciation for life in a way that Victor can never really see, which in a way makes her the smartest character in the entire movie. Her interactions with Elordi provide a nice beating heart that says a lot about her morality and it is quite satisfying seeing when she sticks it up to Victor. Christoph Waltz is also excellent (per usual) as Henrich Harlander, Elizabeth’s Uncle and the man who decides fund Victor’s experiment. He and Victor have a solid onscreen comraderie with one another and I like how Henrich is genuinely interested in his experiments and ideas, while having other motives too, ones that I found surprising and tied into the story’s themes of trying to play God and Victor’s arc quite well. Felix Krammerer is quite good as Victor’s loving, but concerned brother, William, with him having to reckon with his brother’s quest to prove their father wrong, when he just wants him to be okay, while Lars Mikkelson is given quite a bit to chew on as Captain Anderson, functioning as an actual character whose journey parallels Victor’s in a way, rather than just as a plot device.
Overall, I found Guillermo Del Toro’s Frankenstein to be an incredibly worthwhile take on one of my absolute favorite stories in all of fiction. I would’ve liked certain scenes to linger a bit more to help with the pacing, but the story is still engrossing throughout, the changes to the novel’s story manage to work on their own terms, I love how Del Toro presents everything in this grand gothic style, it is a beautifully crafted feature, the emotions are soaring, the performances are aces, and the two main leads are developed compellingly over the course of the feature. Whether or not fans of the novel are going to like the changes made is very much subjective, however I think fans of Del Toro and those who are interested in seeing a new take on Frankenstein will find a lot to chew on here. I am so happy that Del Toro got the chance to tackle this iconic story and I believe it will stand the test of time and become one of the more celebrated versions. It is one that comes alive indeed and I certainly hope that his passion for storytelling will continue to provide many great works into the future!
Rating: A
Please leave your thoughts down below in the comments and see you guys later!
Review Time 