Frankenstein Is Alive And Well!

I’m a bit late to the party here, but last night I watched Victor Frankenstein, starring James McAvoy and Daniel Radcliffe, and I have to say, it was amazing!

I had high hopes for this film, for several reasons. One, because it’s Frankenstein and so I know the story pretty well, two, the trailer looked pretty damn good, and three it’s James McAvoy and Daniel Radcliffe. I was not disappointed in the slightest; the film completely lived up to expectations and then some!

With most cinematic adaption’s of classics like Frankenstein, the story either falls flat, or there’s something missing from the piece, but this one didn't. There was the right amount of humour, the right amount of gore, and the right amount of plot. Usually, one of those things are missing - take the recent adaptation of Jekyll and Hyde, it was poorly acted with cartoon violence at best, and a completely obvious plot line it was almost laughable. Frankenstein Chronicles looks good but I feel like the story is going to drag itself out (and isn’t focusing on the mad scientist, who is arguably the most important character of the entire story). But Victor Frankenstein actually focuses on Frankenstein himself (and Igor obviously) and tells the story of his first attempts at making the famous monster.

This film, instead of going down the same old route of ‘Frankenstein creates monster, monster goes on rampage, Frankenstein gets killed in the end by the monster in supposedly dramatic but ultimately predictable way,’ goes down a rarely trodden story line. Victor Frankenstein tells the story of how Victor met Igor, and more importantly, the steps he took to create the monster. How the man started with bringing animals back before moving onto humans, how in the well known story, he got it all right first time, and how he didn’t escape notice from the police.

It’s an interesting route, one I didn't expect after seeing the trailer. I was expecting the usual story line of Frankenstein creating the fully made monster, but this was far more interesting. This showed his steps to creating that famous monster, where his funding originally came from, where Igor came from in the first place, and how the two went about creating a man out of various body parts. All the while having the right amount of gore to be disgusting, yet not off putting, which is perfect for this type of film!

James McAvoy is a brilliant Frankenstein; he’s rude and brilliant enough for the scientist, while still giving Victor the undercurrent of madness that would eventually be his undoing. More importantly, he made him sympathetic, in other versions I haven’t felt an ounce of sympathy for Frankenstein, because he’s generally been a complete ass with no redeeming qualities. James pulls of an enjoyable mad genius, who is still an ass, but he’s a loveable one, which makes all the difference.
Daniel Radcliffe is fantastic as Igor, going nowhere near the ‘yessssss master’ stereotype usually associated with Igor. Even the hunchback is dismissed within the first twenty minutes (in a gross fashion that even had me saying ‘ewwww’). I loved him as Igor, and loved the story the writers gave him, lifting the character from being a subservient slave to a well spoken, clever partner.

Andrew Scott’s detective character was the right amount of creepy, evil and just a tad bit mad too. I loved to hate him throughout, yet I still managed to feel a bit sympathetic for him too in places. Also the bit with his hand (won’t say what, in case of spoilers) had me cringing in pain for him. Andrew nailed the role.

There were a few cameos too, coming from a few other actors related to Andrew and director Paul McGuigan, which will make a lot of Sherlock fans happy. Mark Gattiss, Louise Brealey and Alister Petrie, also known as Mycroft Holmes, Molly Hooper and James Sholto. I knew all were coming into the film, yet each was a pleasant surprise. Paul McGuigan used similar editing techniques used on Sherlock, in terms of showing body parts under skin, topping the whole thing off beautifully. Any Sherlock fan will be pleased to see the familiar faces and techniques, and even if you aren’t a fan of the show, then you’ll still certainly love the film on the whole.

I’d highly recommend this film to anybody looking for a decent retelling of Frankenstein; it’s got everything - humour and gore in just the right amounts, storyline that for once doesn’t drag, and no completely obvious plot hole in sight! Better yet, the end leaves it open for a sequel, and I for one would be delighted to see another outing with Victor Frankenstein and Igor! 

Long Time, No See!

Sorry for neglecting this blog, I just haven't had much time between writing books/reviews for TubeChum and school to get anything written for here! But now that I've finished school (woooo) apart from two exams, and have been to the cinema, I think it's time I wrote a new blog post! This time, I'm going to talk about X-Men Days Of Future Past. I could talk about Godzilla, which I have also had the (dis)pleasure of seeing recently, but I have a vlog coming up soon about that, so X-Men it is!
Now, first off, I am a big X-Men fan, really, I love it so much! The films, alongside The Matrix, were my childhood. So I'm admittedly a bit bias here. But this film surpasses so many expectations! At first, I wasn't sure what to make of the idea of time travel and the young X-Men meeting the older X-Men, but it was done perfectly! From the trailer, I'd thought that the old and young versions of the characters were going to be interacting together throughout the film in the same timeline, but I was completely wrong. Wolverine goes back 50 years, sent by Patrick Stewart's Xavier and Ian McKellin's Magneto, to find James McAvoy's Xavier and Michael Fassbender's Magneto. To me this made much more sense than having all four of them interacting at the same time, as that might have gotten confusing.
Now I won't give away much about the plot (which is genius) but I will say this, McAvoy and Fassbender are brilliant young counterparts to Stewart and McKellin. They are totally believable (despite they look nothing like their older counterparts, and Michael is actually taller than Ian, small details, small details) as the troubled youths of the 70s. James McAvoy stole the film for me, maybe because I'm slightly bias as I fancy him quite a bit, but he was amazing as a young, troubled Xavier, fighting his guilt and pain. From the minute he turned up, I was entranced by him. Also, for when anybody see's the film, who else was reminded of Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock when Wolverine tries to recruit Xavier? I think its the couldn't-care-less attitude mixed with the dressing gown that sent me down that route, but I did see some resemblance there... I shall keep an eye on this for a while longer, see if I'm just imagining it....
Michael Fassbender plays Magneto effortlessly too. He was a great version of a troubled, young and falsely accused Erik, who has lost faith in humanity due to their actions towards him. I almost wanted him to succeed in his plans of revenge. His interactions with Jenifer Lawrence (Mystique) are perfect, him serving almost like a father figure who's done wrong in the raising of his child. I loved it.
So, without giving too much away (the ending makes me want to cry it's so good, I adore the ending, though now my brain has exploded with how things have now changed... You'll soon find out when you see it) X-Men Days Of Future Past is a masterpiece, one of the best in the series, totally makes up for Wolverine, which was the worst film I'd seen before Godzilla. I can not wait for the next one!