MARY SHELLEY'S FRANKENSTEIN
A film review by Michael John Legeros
Copyright 1994 Michael John Legeros
Directed by Kenneth Branagh
Written by Steph Lady and Frank Darabont,
from the novel by Mary Shelley
Cast Robert DeNiro, Kenneth Branagh, Helena Bonham Carter,
Aidan Quinn, Ian Holm, Richard Briers, and John Cleese
MPAA Rating "R" (what else?)
Running Time Approx. 120 minutes
===
"Did you ever consider the consequences of your actions?"
- DeNiro to Branagh
No FRANKENSTEIN film should ever be boring. Period. Not THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, not YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, and certainly not MARY SHELLEY'S FRANKENSTEIN. But boring is as boring does and this refreshingly literate monster movie is one creation that never comes to life.
Don't blame the source material. Shelley's story always contained more philosophy than atrocity, and writers Steph Lady and Frank Darabont doctor the horrors appropriately. With one eleventh-hour exception, their transgressions are all very tasteful. This FRANKENSTEIN is a thinking's man's monster movie, where The Creature spends more time learning language than lumbering.
With appropriate tweaks to the original story--such as electric eels as energy sources--there should be enough scares here to spook anyone. But the surrounding story never comes together. The tone isn't quite right, and parts of the plot always seems to be missing. Did test screenings do this? The generous leaps and bounds of the story suggest serious snipping in post-production.
The film stinks for subtext, as well. Director Kenneth Branagh--the man who put Shakespeare in the cineplex--offers no commentary on the horrors of 16th-century medicine. Nor does he effectively examine the relationship between Victor and his adopted sister (Helena Bonham Carter). His worst omission: a sense of humor. This FRANKENSTEIN should be brimming with sly winks and subtle nods to earlier incarnations. But, no, not once does the doctor even so much as yell "it's alive."
(And what's with that "circling" camera technique? Is the director trying to infuse into ever scene a sense of action? Excitement? Dizziness?)
Playing the infamous Victor Von, Branagh is all buffed and beautiful for his steamy laboratory scenes. But his eyes burn with neither malice nor madness--he's a good boy who's too good. Better is DeNiro, a stitch (sorry) as The Creature. His misshapen mass of serrated scars and slurred syllables is a welcome presence in the second hour.
Supporting roles go to Ian Holm, Aidan Quinn, Tom Hulce, Richard Briers, and, as a heavy (!), John Cleese. Why the latter is forced to wear dental props, though, is never explained. Sorry, sorry.
To the credit of everyone involved, there is one, great moment to remember. The scene occurs toward the end of the film, when The Creature does something very bad to someone very good. That brief, horrible act brings a rush of excitement into the film like oxygen into a backdraft. And, for a few, fleeting moments, you can clearly see the terror that should've been there from the beginning. And then it's gone.
BOTTOM LINE: Frankly speaking, Kenneth Branagh should stick to
Shakespeare.
Grade: C-
-- Michael J. Legeros Raleigh, North Carolina
.
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews