Review of Frankenstein (2004)

Introduction

This is the well-know story used by filmmakers for many years with great success. A variance on this story has been also been popular plot choice.

The drama begins in the Artic waste. Dr Victor Frankenstein (Alec Newman) is found close to death and begins to recount his curious tale of his desire to create life from death.

Having always been fascinated by death Frankenstein is distraught that he cannot stop the death of his mother. Leaving his fiancée Elizabeth he moves to the city to study science There he meets Professor Waldman(William Hurt) who lectures on the properties of electricity Viktor resolves to create life from death and starts to rob graves for body parts. His teacher warns him he is following a dangerous path but Frankenstein is seemingly unaware of moral boundaries

Having brought the creature to life he instantly rejects him and falling ill he tries to forget the abomination he has made. But his moral duty as creator will continue to haunt him and he will lose everything he loves.

The cast also includes Julie Delphy (blink and you`ll miss her) Donald Sutherland wearing a t-shirt that says `they gave me a large check for my beard` and members of the Bratislavian acting core.

Video

Some superb locations in Bratislava are marred by the fake Artic settings. The picture quality is high in general again with the reservation about poor visual effects.

Audio

Frankenstein has a suitable music score which does not overwhelm the action. The best words are reserved for Viktor and the creature. Nobody else has much to say and William Hurt`s accent is criminal. It would seem Europe is peopled by English and Americans with strange accents.

Features

A fairly pathetic amount of extras here-they should be embarrassed to advertise them.

1. Trailer

Another chance to see the highlights. Oh goody.

2 Making of…

Almost 10 minutes of gripping artistic explanations-yawn.

3 Photo Gallery


Still life

Conclusion

Despite a gripping story line of human arrogance despair and desperation the company that made this managed to create a dull and lifeless slot-filler than never comes alive. There are some fine moments, coming from Luke Goss giving his all as the creature making an eloquent plea for understanding but mostly there is the tedium of Viktor Frankenstein looking meaningfully at dead dogs and his rather wimpy girlfriend.

The locations are beautiful and it would serve well as a travelogue but even these peter out towards the end as the frozen north looks more like the frozen studio.

The worse thing about this version of Frankenstein apart from the interminable length is that is makes Van Helsing look like a good film. The addition of the famous names of Sutherland and Hurt only highlight its inadequacies as both of them are there for their looks rather than anything useful.

Disappointing there is so much more than can be done with the story.