Frankenstein

I feel like this is the version of FRANKENSTEIN that Branagh wanted to make: a splashy, bold and at times genuinely moving version of this tale, that brings a laser focus to the sad humanity of The Monster, especially as contrasted against the careen into cruelty and madness by The Doctor. Del Toro’s version is somewhat crippled and negated by its length, even if you feel it’s a result of him being too in love with his ideas and designs, especially in the first half, which gives a little too much time to a performance from Waltz that feels like a repeat of past triumphs. Given the familiarity of the Doctor’s half, I could have almost stood a feature length version from The Monster’s perspective, especially as enacted in Elordi’s strange, haunting and revelatory performance; it’s here where Del Toro’s almost Burtonesque fascination with macabre outsiders comes to the fore, and where the real fire of the material warms up.