Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is one of the most well-known novels in the Gothic literature genre. The tale of Victor Frankenstein and his creature is a classic that has seen many an adaptation over the years. Most people, when they think of Frankenstein, think of the Universal Monsters adaptation, the one where the Creature is green and has two bolts protruding from his neck. While that is the most recognisable version, it isn’t accurate to Shelly’s original text. In comes Guillermo Del Toro and Netflix with this new version of Frankenstein that looks to be much closer to the original work. Does Del Toro’s Frankenstein live up to the novel, or is it just another poor adaptation from Netflix?
While on an expedition to the North Pole, Captain Anderson’s ship gets stuck in the ice. The crew works tirelessly to free the ship to continue the expedition, but they are growing weary. Then, an explosion occurs in the distance, and the Captain, along with some of his men, investigates. At the site of the explosion, the explorers find a wounded man who is gravely injured. However, before they can learn anything else, a monstrous roar rings out from the shadows.
As they return to the ship with the injured man, they are set upon by a Creature of immense strength, killing numerous members of the Captain’s crew. After they chase it off, the injured man comes to and reveals himself to be Victor Frankenstein, the creator of the Creature that attacked them. Victor then tells his tale to the Captain, a tale of science, love, and misery.
I remember reading the OG novel back in high school (and flicking through it again before seeing the film), so I thought I knew what I was in for, but it wasn’t what I expected. Del Toro has changed some aspects of the story while maintaining the same structure as the novel to varying success. The biggest change has to do with Victor’s childhood, which has ripple effects throughout the whole story, and I think it undercuts a lot of the emotional weight.
Victor is no longer a kid with a pure fascination for science and creation; instead, he’s got major daddy issues and a slight Oedipus complex. This change places a much greater emphasis on motherhood throughout the film (which can also be seen in the character of Elizabeth), and Victor falls into a cycle of family violence instead.
I can respect Del Toro for having his own take on the story, and the motherhood themes were in the novel, just a lot more understated (reading-between-the-lines type shit). But this change fundamentally changes how I viewed Victor and the Creature, and not in a good way. I no longer felt anything towards Victor; no sympathy, no anger, just acknowledgement that he’s a bit of an egotistical dick. And in an effort to make the Creature more sympathetic, his motivations become a lot simpler, and I never ended up caring about or believing in his struggles. This one change is what keeps this film from being fantastic, which is a shame, because almost every other aspect is phenomenal.
The casting for this film was on point, as everyone involved was excellent. Oscar Isaac, in particular, was great as Victor Frankenstein, even if the character arc he has isn’t as good as it could’ve been. Despite the handicap, Isaac puts his all into every bit of dialogue, and it kept me enraptured every time he spoke. Isaac was one of the main reasons I wanted to see this film as well, so I’m very glad that he did an excellent job.
Jacob Elordi as the Creature was also fantastic, especially with all of the prosthetics he had to wear. He nailed the vibe of the Creature, including his movements, stuttering dialogue when he first spoke, and the depth of emotion in just his eyes, making it one of the best performances of the year.
The supporting cast is also stacked, with multiple big names lending their talents to this film. Chief among them is Christoph Waltz as Henrich Harlander. I adore Waltz in any film he is in, and I didn’t know he was going to be in Frankenstein until he showed up 20 minutes into the film. He doesn’t change his accent at all, but he’s one of the few actors whom I’ll let it slide because he’s just so damn good.
Mia Goth as Elizabeth Lavenza was also good, but she felt a bit more one-dimensional when compared to the novel. Her character is more of a foil to Victor in this film, but she doesn’t get enough screen time to make their relationship believable. Goth does great with what she was given, but it felt lacking.
The rest of the cast included Ralph Ineson as a University professor, Felix Kammerer as William Frankenstein, Charles Dance as Leopold Frankenstein, and Lars Mikkelsen as Captain Anderson. Every one of these actors put in stellar performances that I thoroughly enjoyed. I specifically enjoyed Mikkelsen, even if I didn’t recognise him straight away as he was speaking French for a bit. But when he started to speak English, I instantly heard Grand Admiral Thrawn and did that one Once Upon A Time In Hollywood meme (you know the one).
If there’s one thing that Guillermo Del Toro knows how to do, it's how to make a visually beautiful film, and Frankenstein is no exception. Every set, every costume, every visual effect is fantastic, so much so that you wouldn’t believe that this is a Netflix film. The tower where Victor creates the Creature is particularly impressive and looks exactly as I imagined it while reading the novel. The Gothic architecture, combined with the dynamic lighting, makes everything feel so much more real.
This attention to detail carries over to the props as well, even if most of them are corpses in various states of dismemberment. The film made me wince more than once as Victor was experimenting. Speaking of me wincing, the gore in this film is brutal, and I almost had to look away at some points (although I did laugh at one death scene cause it just looked and sounded hilarious).
I also really liked how the characters looked, especially the Creature. All of the stitched-together parts with skin colours ranging from white to various shades of blue (cause they from corpses) were a nice detail. Further, I liked how the Creature changed visually as he learned more about the world, such as wearing clothes or growing his hair out. It was the one way the Creature felt more human, even if he was still a reanimated corpse.
The soundtrack perfectly fit the film's vibe. There isn’t any one track that stands out to me in particular, but as I was watching the film, the music did a good job of keeping you immersed in the story. This is something I would pay more attention to on a rewatch, which is a bit daunting, as the film is 150 minutes long, but it was enjoyable enough that I would consider a second viewing.
Guillermo Del Toro’s Frankenstein is a beautifully shot, phenomenally acted adaptation, with some questionable narrative choices. I enjoyed a lot of what this film offered, but the change in the story and the impact it has on the two main characters isn’t ideal. I still enjoyed my time with the film and would highly recommend it to anyone who’s a fan of Gothic literature or the original novel. It’s just a little disappointing that some of the emotional weight of the book is absent from this adaptation.
Have you seen Frankenstein? What did you think? Do you prefer the novel? Let us know in the comments below where we can talk about our favourite Del Toro films.
