Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

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DanTheMan 2 Clearly made to capitalise on the success of Bram Stoker's Dracula, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is as misshapen and compelling as its central creature. Flamboyant, theatrical, full of sound, fury and fire, lightning, blood and amniotic fluid, Kenneth Branagh's film is a feverishly ambitious work; one that succeeds as a cautionary tale about true monstrosity: hubris and man's inhumanity to man. A visually captivating tribute to Frankenstein's film legacy and a faithful adaptation of Shelley's original text, its Greek tragedy, and its character's utter invocations to the gods in turn, it manages to feel cheesy in exactly the right way. But one man's operatic style is another man's unintentionally comical excess, and the film certainly tempts fate, overambition is certainly preferable to the alternative. Branagh's ambition often clashes with the overwrought tone, but the gothic stylisation is wonderfully combined with the sumptuous photography of Roger Pratt, gorgeously realised production and the mesmerising score by Patrick Doyle. The addition of some truly exceptional performances from its cast just further adds to this film's strengths and, while short on villainy, DeNiro's Creature is one of the best interpretations of the Monster we've ever had, an aesthetically challenged and tragically misunderstood loner with a father who rejected him, one who can swing between genuinely terrifying to heartbreakingly sympathetic on a dime. For all its faults, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a passionately made film about what drives one to excel, what drives one to madness and the dangers of excess beyond reason. A seriously misunderstood cinematic triumph simply too sophisticated and beautiful for this world. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 10/26/24 Full Review Blu B It's a complete mess but it's not all bad here. So much so that I do have trouble calling it terrible. Just very questionable and misguided. The biggest problems here is the acting and cinematography. The acting is so over the top half the time and looney it comes across as unintentionally funny rather than dramatic. K.B. isn't that good here as the lead. He's not likeable really at all and comes across as a pretentious know it all whose whiny because his Mom died. There is no sympathy here at all. DeNiro isn't bad as the Monster and is probably the best thing in this. I wish his makeup was a bit less Cronenberg like though. Everyone else is forgettable or not that good. The Amadeus Guy best friend I don't get why he's here and he's overacted as well. The cinematography man really sums up the problems here. Fantastic Grade A production value and effort put in. It always shows and yet it's so misused and the camerawork is all over the place at times with crazy camera shots in the action scenes which feel so out of place. You always got people over acting and it gets frantic and the scene itself always comes across as bizarre more than riveting, scary, or thrilling. Every single time this happens and is one of the biggest problems here. The special effects are excellent with tons of practical effects but there always used in just bizarre ways. The direction is another huge issue in general as it's all over the place. That being said, everything else is alright about it. This really isn't scary at all. It's a drama that feels like a Shakesphere tragedy more than anything and I think that's due to the direction. It's very unique and never hard to follow but it just doesn't work well together at all. This feels much more character driven than the 1931 one does. But because Frankenstein isn't that likeable, it's not that interesting to watch. In the middle when it focuses on the Monster is does get a bit better and defintely is the best parts. Too bad it goes back towards the end being more about Victor. It comes across almost as the Monster & Victors storys are two completely seperate films almost. The way this builds the story as a character arc around Victor more than is what seperates it and makes it unique and is also one of the biggest problems. K.B. really needed to go for something scary and moody rather than sweeping and epic like he's shooting Lawrence of Arabia or War & Peace or MacBeth. It feels like the message of the original as a warning of man playing God gets lost in all the bizarre direction choices and character of Victor. I've never read the source material but knowing his track record this is probably almost 100% accurate to the book but the end result I'm sure is not what the author had in mind orignally. If your a DIE HARD fan of the book or the direction of K.B. than maybe check this out but most people should skip this. It's very flawed but an interesting watch. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 10/10/24 Full Review Salvador Z Bruh first of all they used electric eels instead of lightening, second of all no this is not a good movie. It’s extremely goofy and the actors try to take it way too seriously. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 06/24/24 Full Review P H I was really mesmerized by this film, with such intense and tragic drama from the beginning to the end, and with a tremendous performance by Kenneth Branagh, so dramatic and shocking as Bram's Stoker Dracula, a really intense and captivating movie. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 08/20/23 Full Review Kerry H Read the novel then watch this movie. Outstanding. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 06/27/23 Full Review Elvis D Una de las mejores adaptaciones de la obra de Mary Shelley, esta película cuenta con muy buenas actuaciones, buena producción, buen guion y buena banda sonora. Francis Ford Coppola ejerce como productor en esta cinta y parece que repite la misma formula que se uso en Dracula (1992). Una adaptación que libre, pero manteniéndose aferrada la esencia y mensaje de la novela. La película juega muy bien con el tema sobre utilizar los avances científicos para tratar de manipular el orden natural y tomar el papel de Dios. Incluso llega este conflicto sobre hacer lo que esta moralmente mal por tratar de avanzar científicamente sin tener en cuenta las consecuencias. El guion de esta película es muy profundo y deja mucho que pensar. Robert De Niro interpreta a un excelente monstruo lleno de sentimientos y emociones que muestran que tiene humanidad, pero no puede controlar sus impulsos violentos con tal de vengarse o conseguir lo que quiere. El personaje de Victor Frankenstein es una muy buena representación de alguien que quiere mejorar las cosas con el avance científico sin tomar en cuenta las consecuencias y luego va descubriendo que alterar la naturaleza y jugar a ser Dios puede ser peligroso. Eso no esta para nada alejado de las secuelas que han dejado algunas creaciones de la ciencia a lo largo de los años. Esta versión de Frankenstein es un drama de ciencia ficción con una profunda filosofía sobre lo científico contra la moral humana y eso la hace tanto una digna adaptación de la novela como una excelente película. Mi calificación final para esta película es un 9/10. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 03/09/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

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