A brilliant but egotistical scientist brings a creature to life in a monstrous experiment that ultimately leads to the undoing of both the creator and his tragic creation.

Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’ has been adapted for screen numerous times before, and this latest attempt comes from Guillermo del Toro, the Oscar winning director with a strong track record in directing variations on the ‘creature feature’ or ‘monster movie’. This version stars Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein, with Jacob Elordi as the Creature, with the story told primarily through flashbacks as Frankenstein and the Creature find themselves reunited in the Northern Arctic near a trapped Danish Navy expedition ship.

I’m sure most readers will be familiar with the broad strokes of the ‘Frankenstein’ story, so I’ll focus more on the other elements of the movie and how del Toro has put his stamp on things. Like some of his previous works (‘Crimson Peak’ mainly), this is more of a gothic fantasy/romance than a horror movie, with the relationship between Victor, the Creature and other characters depicted as inevitably doomed romantic stories – Mia Goth’s Elizabeth the obvious example of this besides the relationship between the 2 central characters. The flashback approach allows the story to be told through both Frankenstein and the Creature’s perspectives and I felt this structure led to an interesting retelling of a familiar tale. Performance wise, Isaac makes a good Frankenstein, but it is Elordi who shines brightest in finding the humanity within the Creature and his performance is the best of the movie.

Guillermo del Toro shot much of the movie in the U.K., particularly in Scotland and I enjoyed seeing not only the familiar sites of Edinburgh, but the clear influence of the Wallace Monument in Stirling on the tower/laboratory where Frankenstein conducts his experiments. I enjoyed del Toro’s take on ‘Frankenstein’ a lot, in a movie that respects the classic source material while finding new angles and most importantly, seeking out and finding the humanity within the Creature to make this gothic tale as tragic as it is entertaining.

Rating: 4/5

Directed By: Guillermo del Toro

Starring: Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi, Mia Goth, Felix Kammerer, Lars Mikkelsen, David Bradley, Lauren Collins, Charles Dance and Christoph Waltz

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1312221/