MARY SHELLEY'S FRANKENSTEIN
A film review by Ben Hoffman
Copyright 1994 Ben Hoffman
As Kenneth Branagh "can do no wrong" in my book, I was shaken to find that I was dumb-struck by the poorly conceived movie I was watching. Everything about it was bad and big and loud and a hodge-podge. How could someone as good as Branagh direct and act in a film so lacking in everything?
To begin with, "the monster," Robert de Niro. Why did the film need a star of his caliber who had comparatively few lines and those mostly mumbles. His face was as ugly and off-putting as one could imagine, filled with oversized sutures for which a surgeon would be arrested for botching the job.
Karloff was and looked a hundred times better. Karloff was unknown; his first film was in 1916. Fifteen years later he had some mild success in The Criminal Code but it was not until his Monster role that same year in Frankenstein that he became a star. Did Branagh choose De Niro because he wanted a "name?"
If, as Branagh says, the film is about "Love," the love he does not give his Creation but lavishes instead on Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter), he missed the mark completely. With perhaps one of the world's most famous horror stories to work with, Branagh failed.
Tom Hulce has the role of Dr Frankenstein's friend, while John Cleese is the doctor who first thought of creating life but gave up the idea. Aidin Quinn and Ian Holm are also in the cast.
1.5 Bytes 4 Bytes = Absolutely must see. 3 Bytes = Too good to be missed. 2 Bytes = So so. 1 Byte = Save your money.
Ben Hoffman
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