FRANKENSTEIN (2025)

Having given Pinocchio a makeover it was only natural that Guillermo del Toro would turn his attention to another classic story about a creature who wants to be human.

Just how radical would del Toro's take be?

Well, for starters he completely inverts the structure of the novel, so that instead of the Creature wronging Victor, who then seeks revenge, here it is the Creature who suffers at the hands of Victor, and who then pursues him to the Arctic circle.  He wants Victor to create a companion for him (as in the novel),.

Or to find a way of killing him, because in this version the Creature is literally indestructible and is therefore doomed to wander the earth forever in his loneliness. 

Del Toro further loads the dice in favour of the Creature by making him surprisingly easy on the eye (no bolts in the neck, for example).  In contrast Victor is portrayed as a borderline egotistical maniac who is arrogant and cruel, although (thanks to Oscar Isaac's larger-than-life performance) he can be charming and charismatic. 

The novel is a precautionary tale about the dangers of untrammelled scientific enquiry but this portrayal of Victor undercuts this - his obsession with creating life seems less the result of a genuine interest in the pursuit of knowledge and more to do with satisfying his own internal demons.  Or in Victor's case, an angel that appears in his dreams, which transforms during the film, ending up as a skeletal figure surrounded by flames.  

Another change del Toro makes is to give the character of Elizabeth a bigger role.  Instead of marrying Victor, here she is going to marry Victor's brother William.  I was very taken with Mia Goth's performance as Elizabeth, especially the way she manages to hint at a latent sensuality.  She has the measure of Victor - she recognises his essential coldness even if she is also attracted to him.  

In the novel the Creature runs off immediately after being created, whereas here Victor keeps him prisoner, hoping he will display intelligence.  When he doesn't (at least not to Victor's satisfaction), Victor becomes angry, convinced that his experiment has been a failure.  In contrast Elizabeth is empathetic to the Creature, and forms a bond with him.  

All of this plays to del Toro's strengths as a storyteller - the film is visually sumptuous and it's directed with great verve and energy.  In particular the scene where the monster is created, complete with Gothic thunderstorm, is a triumph.

On the other hand some of the dialogue is a little too on-the-nose, for example when one of the characters says to Victor that he is the monster.

Given that the film has a 150-minute running time the new character of Harlander, played by Christoph Waltz, seems an unnecessary addition who added very little that I could see. 

And I didn't find Victor's deathbed conversion, where he repents of his treatment of the Creature, convincing, or a dramatically satisfying conclusion; I would have preferred Victor to have gone raging into the night. 

It's a shame that Victor dies because otherwise we could have had a sequel, in which Victor is forced to create a companion for the Creature by reanimating Elizabeth's body, so that the two can live happily together ever after.  We could call such a sequel 'Bride of Frankenstein' (obviously).

The novel is often called the first science fiction novel, whilst most film adaptations have been aimed firmly at horror fans.  This interpretation feels more like a fantasy though, which is not my favourite genre.  That may explain why I don't feel that enthusiastic about it, despite its strengths.  Nevertheless it made for an entertaining two-and-a-half hours, which never dragged.  

RATING: ✓ Cheers