Rish Outfield's reviews
Some time ago, I obtained a copy of Frank Darabont's draft of the Frankenstein screenplay. I read it and found it to be, as Darabont's other scripts, intelligent, powerful, and moving (yeah, I cried, what's it to ya?). One of the things that most struck me was how equally sympathetic and insane both Victor and the Creature were, especially in the finale. After reading this beautiful work, lovingly faithful to Mary Shelley's book, I almost didn't want to watch the movie for fear it would be vastly inferior. Then today, I caved. I haven't watched it yet, but I'm hoping it is as gothic and something ns something something. I have a bad feeling Helena Bonham Carter is in it, though. Uh oh.
Watching the film was an odd experience. I found myself dismayed at first, at all the things missing from what I had read, feeling that I was getting a whittled-down version, but as the film went on, I began to appreciate the filmed elements, and even the changes. Much of the script's details had been simplified and more liberties had been taken with the book, but I found nice visual additions and that some of the changes were actually for the better.
The film had a fantastic cast, including Ian Holm as Baron Frankenstein, and of course, Kenneth Branagh as the obsessed genius Victor Frankenstein. One of my personal favourites, John Cleese, appears briefly in an entirely serious role. What a chap. Robert DeNiro played the tragic, confused, and ultimately noble creature (very nicely as well), except I didn't think he should've gotten first billing. And Ms. Bonham-Carter annoyed me not at all.
The makeup on the creatures (I can't bring myself to call them monsters, can you?) was great! The contraption Frankenstein built to bring his creation life was truly amazing. The film was sad, gothic, dark, beautiful, intelligent. While reading the script, I wondered if the Threat of the piece was Mad Scientist or Undead. In the film, however, it was clearly Doctor Frankenstein who was the bad guy. Nice music by Patrick Doyle--big and bombastic, but nice for the period. It was reminiscent of a Shakespearean production (and no wonder, considering the director), and I felt the source material was dealt with respect and class. There was one moment of strange and distracting editing (you'll know it when you see it), but other than that, I haven't a negative thing to say. A very fine film.
Best Scare: Though not a traditional scare, there was one particular moment involving dancing (the script described this scene as "the most-sweepingly romantic and hair-raisingly demented image of the film") that was both hideous and lovely.
I'd Recommend It To: More cerebral horror fans.

The tyranist's thoughts
On more than one occasion Rish has accused me of being a cerebral horror fan. The fact that I don't mind thinking about what is going on in a movie probably justifies his accusation. I wonder, though, if having the script available to him beforehand influenced what he thought of this movie.
As with most period-horror flicks there is a certain necessary statelieness to the production. Add to that an incredible sadness and a very sympathetic portrayal of the creature and the potential for the movie is unbounded. Unfortunately, I found stretches of the movie unnecessary and therefore boring. As much as I wanted to enjoy the movie, which I must say was astonishingly faithful to its source, in the end, I found more of it tedious than enjoyable.
De Niro is very, very good as the creature, as is Branagh as the Doctor. I loathed Ms. Carter as much as I've ever loathed her, though. Most of the rest of the characters really fade into the background. John Cleese was the notable exception, almost as much for the fact that his role was entirely serious as anything. I enjoyed seeing Aidan Quinn, even if it was more of a cameo than anything else. I've always liked him for some reason.
So, while the script was well-done, the sets and costumes spot on, and the acting mostly good, the only thing dragging this one down for me was the boredom. A little better editing and maybe this one is more memorable for me.