Title: Victor Frankenstein
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Director: Paul McGuigan
Starring: James McAvoy, Daniel Radcliffe, Jessica Brown Findlay
Runtime: 1 hr 50 mins

What It Is: When a nameless circus clown suffering from what appears to be a hunched back is rescued by medical student Victor Frankenstein (McAvoy) he is given the name Igor (Radcliffe) and asked to assist in Frankenstein “Prometheus” project which would see him bring the dead to life. When the methods to constructing their Promethean man put them in the direct ire of the extremely catholic Inspector Turpin (Andrew Scott). Turpin sees Frankenstein’s work as that of Satan and will do whatever necessary to stop it. 

What We Think: There’s far too much going on here to really enjoy each nugget of a story. Writer Max Landis seems to have a writing style that I gravitate towards. McAvoy and Radcliffe have a really nice chemistry about them. One note on the writing that I did not enjoy was the love story. This seemed shoehorned in and served only to give Igor’s character another dimension he really didn’t need. There’s a great modernization of the steampunk production design that I found myself really enjoying. There were obvious religious undertones to the film and I think that battle is one which most people tend to internalize. Here instead, we had a very real pro and con to this theological fist fight. Character motives needed work as well.

Our Grade:  C+, As I mentioned I enjoy Landis’ writing. I really liked American Ultra despite the flaws in the writing that are eerily similar to the ones found here. When viewed from the acting perspective there are some good performances. I though Andrew Scott’s devilishly over the top turn as the religious freak of an inspector really fit the movies tone. Likewise, I think that the choices made by McGuigan from a direction standpoint were solid. I”ll recommend this to anyone who likes a good ole fashion monster story. This isn’t scary but it tells a disposable and highly entertaining story nonetheless.