Frankenstein

"Frankenstein" is a departure from Mary Shelly's epic work. The novel is, at its core, a cautionary tale, of man's scientific hubris, defying both God and nature. This is, in most respects a more than decent film. Acting is, for the most part outstanding, as are the creature effects but what can be honestly said, is this film bears only the remotest resemblance, to Shelly's work. The film establishes a dysfunctional father son relationship, mirroring Victor Frankenstein's own failed relationship, with his father, in his callous and at times, cruel, treatment of his surrogate son, the creature, he conjurs into existence. Is that a bad thing? I guess it depends on your point of view. As an ardent Shelly fan, I was actually in the process of re-reading Frankenstein, when this was released. For me, it felt a little lacking. The relationship between the creature and Frankenstein, felt markedly less complex. The creature in the book, is a tragic, ultimately sympathetic figure but also capable of considerable guile and cruelty. These aspects of its personality, are laregly absent, in this tale. Victor Frankenstein is, for his part, is more someone who has showen an horrific error in judgement and has no idea how to remedy his error, as opposed to someone cruel and callous. In summary, "Frankenstein" bears only a passing semblance to Shelly's remarkable work. This is a decent film, of that there can be no doubt but it needs to viewed in isolation from the novel. The underlying message is something of a departure. Certainly its not as sophisticated, in terms of the relationship it establishes between Frankenstein and his creation. Nonethesless, worth a look.

"Frankenstein" is a departure from Mary Shelly's epic work. The novel is, at its core, a cautionary tale, of man's scientific hubris, defying both God and nature. This is, in most respects a more than decent film. Acting is, for the most part outstanding, as are the creature effects but what can be honestly said, is this film bears only the remotest resemblance, to Shelly's work. The film establishes a dysfunctional father son relationship, mirroring Victor Frankenstein's own failed relationship, with his father, in his callous and at times, cruel, treatment of his surrogate son, the creature, he conjurs into existence. Is that a bad thing? I guess it depends on your point of view. As an ardent Shelly fan, I was actually in the process of re-reading Frankenstein, when this was released. For me, it felt a little lacking. The relationship between the creature and Frankenstein, felt markedly less complex. The creature in the book, is a tragic, ultimately sympathetic figure but also capable of considerable guile and cruelty. These aspects of its personality, are laregly absent, in this tale. Victor Frankenstein is, for his part, more someone who has showen an horrific error in judgement and has no idea how to remedy his error, as opposed to someone cruel and callous. In summary, "Frankenstein" bears only a passing semblance to Shelly's remarkable work. This is a decent film, of that there can be no doubt but it needs to viewed in isolation from the novel. The underlying message is something of a departure. Certainly its not as sophisticated, in terms of the relationship it establishes between Frankenstein and his creation. Nonethesless, worth a look.

"Frankenstein" is a departure from Mary Shelly's epic work. The novel is, at its core, a cautionary tale, of man's scientific hubris, defying both God and nature. This is, in most respects a more than decent film. Acting is, for the most part outstanding, as are the creature effects but what can be honestly said, is this film bears only the remotest resemblance, to Shelly's work. The film establishes a dysfunctional father son relationship, mirroring Victor Frankenstein's own failed relationship, with his father, in his callous and at times, cruel, treatment of his surrogate son, the creature, he conjurs into existence. Is that a bad thing? I guess it depends on your point of view. As an ardent Shelly fan, (I was actually in the process of re-reading Frankenstein, when this was released) it felt a little lacking. The relationship between the creature and Frankenstein, felt markedly less complex. The creature in the book, is a tragic, ultimately sympathetic figure but also capable of considerable guile and cruelty. These aspects of its personality, are laregly absent, in this tale. Victor Frankenstein is, for his part, more someone who has showen an horrific error in judgement and has no idea how to remedy his error, as opposed to being cruel and callous. In summary, "Frankenstein" bears only a passing semblance to Shelly's remarkable work. This is a decent film, of that there can be no doubt but it needs to viewed in isolation from the novel. The underlying message is something of a departure. Certainly its not as sophisticated, in terms of the relationship it establishes between Frankenstein and his creation. Nonethesless, worth a look.