Frankenstein

Worthless. Branagh amps up the melodrama present in but not key to Shelley's fantastic classic - and handles that melodrama piss-poorly, too.

So overwrought and ridiculous it’s the closest we could possibly come to a “Jim Steinman’s Frankenstein.” (The creation scene is one of the most unintentionally funniest scenes ever thanks to atrocious editing: https://youtu.be/Nm4jeqvA_JQ)

The seeds of a fine film are here, but Branagh's outrageously excessive and florid directorial tricks (to say the least) work against anything the movie has going for it, particularly De Niro's radically original, deeply moving interpretation of The Monster. Strange, sometimes laughable decisions prevail down the line, especially casting Cleese with comically wonky teeth in an ostensibly straight role, and Branagh's amping up of every emotion to Shakespearean levels of hysteria.

Way to spoil future generations from giving a damn about this literary classic, Mr. Branagh.

I was surprised by how much I liked this one; it isn't as gory as it could be (though some parts are still graphic) and it's a pretty good adaptation of the novel--some scenes were added in, but mostly it seemed pretty close to the book. The sets and costumes were gorgeous, and what I really liked was how the characters were so real; it was really a gripping, tragic, and emotional movie to me. The actors did a great job. Some parts were disturbing, but overall I thought it was very good.