Guillermo del Toro finaly gave us his version of Frankenstein and honestly this thing feels a bit different than what we usually get from these adaptations although not in the best way possible as yes it feels more modern but mostly makes Frankenstein look as a fail project when in fact he did beat death and didnt even want to investigate it just decided to put his project away. The movie is over two hours but it does not feel like a drag because del Toro knows exactly what he wants to show us, a tragic story about a guy who played god and then got scared shitless of what he created but also refused to take any responsibility for it. Oscar Isaac does his thing as Victor Frankenstein with all that maniac energy and regret later on but Jacob Elordi is the real deal here, his performance as the creature is something else, not just some green monster doing dumb shit but an actual being trying to understand why he even exists in the first place and why everyone treats him like garbage when all he wants is to be loved and accepted, mostly accepted. The way Elordi moves through each scene, the way he learns about friendship from this blind old man and slowly realizes nobody wants him around no matter how good he tries to be, that stuff just breaks your heart and makes you root for him even when things get violent and messy.
- IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1312221/
- Platform: NETFLIX
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I realy liked is how del Toro stayed in a very similar line to previous adaptations but added his own style to it with lots of dark visuals and gothic settings and those signature colors he loves using in every single project, you can tell this guy has been waiting for a long time to make this specific thing and he put lots of effort into it. I think the setup of the story was pretty solid, a ship stuck in ice where Victor tells his side of everything that happened and then the creature shows up to tell his own version of events, witch is way more interesting than just following one perspective the whole time because you get to see how differently they both remember the same moments. Del Toro for sure make his own changes to the story compare to the novel, after all its an adaptation not a documentary, he adds this arms dealer character played by Christoph Waltz who funds all of Victors experiments in this creepy tower and wants his brain put into the creatures body because he is dying of syphilis, witch Im sure does not happen in the book but we dont have just Victor playing God but there is a second character trying to defeat death. The Elizabeth character is also different here, she is not Victors cousin or adopted sister like in other versions, instead she comes in as the fiance of his younger brother William and Victor becomes obsesed with her in this weird mommy issues kind of way since Mia Goth plays both Elizabeth and Victors dead mother, the dude even drinks milk constantly throughout the movie so yeah that kinda weird too in my opinion.
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The visuals are absolutly insane, every frame looks like a gothic painting that should be hanging somewhere, the set design and costumes and lighting are all top tier and you can tell Netflix actually gave him a proper budget to work with instead of cheaping out like they do on most of there other projects. From some reasearch I did after trying to understand why and how the creature regenerates find out that the creature design is based on Bernie Wrightson illustrations witch is a solid choice, he has this long dark hair with a blonde streak to show he is made from diferent people and one eye that glows red in the dark, its way more stylized than the classic Universal monster look but it works for what del Toro is going for here, even seems more agile than in any other movie. Some of the CGI animals like the deer and wolves look pretty rough and take you out of the movie a bit, thats honestly one of the few visual problems I had with the whole thing becuase everything else is practicl effects and makeup that looks amazing, specially the body horror stuff when Victor is assembling the creature piece by piece witch is gory as hell. The hole vibe of the build up of the monster is very emotional and heavy, but when he tries to destroy it is one of the most sad moments of the movie.
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The movie really wants you to understand that Victor is the true monster of this story witch is not exactly a new take but del Toro does it well by showing how much of a selfish prick Victor is from the very beginning, his dad was abusive and cold and Victor ends up treating his own creation the exact same way, locking him in the basement and beating him and refusing to teach him anything, I mean he did try but by force, he never try to teach. Del Toro said this movie is about generational trauma being passed down and you can see that theme everywhere, Victor wanted to conquer death after his mom died giving birth to his brother but once he actually creates life he does not know what to do with it and just gets disgusted, he never thought about what would happen after he achieved his goal because it was all about his ego and his need to be better than his father. The creature on the other hand is this blank slate of pure innocence who learns about the world by watching this farm family and reading Paradise Lost with the blind old man, he sees himself as both Adam and Satan, something created from nothing but then cast away by his creator. Jacob Elordi does a great job at selling the tragedy of this character, you feel every moment of rejection and pain and you understand why he eventually snaps and demands Victor make him a companion so he does not have to be alone forever, its almost like he accepting the world doesnt want him so he wants a companion just like him but he doesnt know better, he doesnt know if that other will also reject him, Victor refuses to do because he thinks he created something evil when really he just failed as a father figure, the irony.
Sure some parts feel rushed near the end and maybe the pacing could have been tighter specially in the first half with all the Victor backstory stuff, the Christoph Waltz character probably could have been cut entirely to save some time becuase his storyline does not really go anywhere interesting after the reveal but I cant denied it did add an extra surprise when it was reveal he is sick but after all there was a hidden motive since the start. The ending of the movie is so different than any other one as most of the time its Victor who dies still hunting the creature and never has his moment of realization like they both did in the boat at the end, here Victor actually apologizes and calls the creature his son and they have this forgiveness moment witch feels a little too cringe and predictable and maybe unearned given how much of an asshole Victor was the entire movie, but the creature only knows how to love. I get what del Toro was going for with the father son dynamic and the theme of forgiveness but I think it needed more setup to really land properly, still it works okay and the creature pushing the ship free at the end so the crew can go home is a nice touch. The cinematography and production makes this movie one to be seen on the big screen but this only got a very limited theatrical release before hitting Netflix witch sucks because this is way better than most of the crap that gets wide releases, this should have been in every theater for at least a few weeks so more people could experience it properly. Overall this is solid work from del Toro, probably sitting at a solid 7 out of 10 for me, its not perfect and I have some issues with story choices and pacing but the emotional weight and the cast did a great job, make up for those problems, if you are a fan of gothic horror or Frankenstein in general you need to watch this because its probably the most modern adaptation we have gotten in years that will keep you entertain, but if you have read the novel dont expect it to stick 110% to the story, it has its own touch.
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