Review of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994) by Paul N — 23 Dec 2007
Wow. This is why it's always good to revisit films every decade or so. I loved this when I saw it at the movies as a 19 year old but... to my jaded 32 year old eyes Branagh's stab at gothic horror has been revealed to be a tremendous pile of crap.
Think wild overacting, constantly swooping camerawork and constant thundercracking can't be bland? Check this film out to be proven wrong. Branagh lacks Francis Ford Coppola's operatic touch or Tim Burton's gothic whimsy and is vastly out of his depth.
As for his performance, he's tragically miscast himself as a wonderfully misconceived Hollywood hero... that is, if Hollywood heroes were a weird combination of Peter Cushing and Billy Ray Cyrus. (Can we really go past the ridiculous mullet and the constant need to be shirtless?) Helena Bonham Carter and her Great Wall of Hair simper blandly through a thunderously boring and largely pointless love interest plot, which seems jerry-rigged onto the film.
De Niro's Creature comes off best, but in a film so preoccupied with life, it's shocking it displays so little of it. A massive bomb that deserves its reputation.
This review of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994) was written by Paul N on 23 Dec 2007.
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein has generally received mixed reviews.
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