Victor Frankenstein

In an ‘era’ of constant Hollywood remakes and prequels, Paul McGuigan’s Victor Frankenstein is a breath of fresh air. Towards the narrative climax one worries that this may be just another made-up origin story that doesn’t tie up its loose ends. In fact, it very nearly is. While it doesn’t follow the plot of its well-known source material, being the prequel origin story that it is, it does however tell an open-ended and yet self-contained story with well-acted performances and satisfactory use of the tale’s criteria.

The casting is good, with Daniel Radcliffe as a sympathetic Igor and James McAvoy in an intense depiction of the mad scientist. Also starring is Andrew Scott as the zealous police inspector Roderick Turpin, who conveys his increasingly obsessive and religious character through a cold and stoic performance.

The film does its own take on the theme of the story, the “triumph of science over God”, or “over death”. Frankenstein and Turpin’s opposing religious views play out said theme; Frankenstein is depicted as the pseudo-atheist offended by the mention of God and Turpin’s fundamentalist Christian views – Turpin, a character who accurately deduces the circumstances behind Igor’s escape from the abusive circus and almost immediately disregards his deduction, distorting the truth, for personal reasons. This is the film’s subtext regarding the concept of religion.

The film follows a fitting recurring theme of anatomy – the structure of the body, how Frankenstein uses his knowledge of which to repair Igor’s spinal deformity, and further how they build their creations.

He treats Igor’s condition forcefully, without explaining his intention so Igor doesn’t panic and have to be chased around the room to fix it. The Frankenstein character is an equal mix of sophistication, egocentricity, intensity, sympathy and playful intimidation. The revelation of his motivation at the end, however, seems to conflict with his character that prizes science and logic over all else. Daniel Radcliffe’s Igor is unlike the character’s traditional depiction, being an intelligent, sweet-hearted and socially inept man with handsome features as opposed to a disfigured hunchback who finds entertainment in tormenting the creature. This version humanises him further by providing a love interest in the form of Lorelei (Jessica Brown Findlay), whose performance is beautifully simple and whose character is kind and moralistic, though could be considered somewhat shallow as she only ever associates with Igor after he becomes handsome.

As mentioned before, the film does not follow Mary Shelley’s plot. While the design of Frankenstein’s Monster, known as Henry or Prometheus in this version, is likeable and its characterisation is passable for a climactic scene, the film does not revolve around Frankenstein and his relationship and responsibility with his creation, and thus the Frankenstein Monster is reduced to a basic brute for the climax. While Andrew Scott’s role as the obsessive police officer is a worthy antagonist, other parties such as Victor’s schoolmate Alistair (Callum Turner) fall short, being a vain, avaricious and obvious villain without much complexity.

Nevertheless, Victor Frankenstein is an enjoyable film that takes the audience though the progress and milestones of Igor and Victor’s research and relationship. It has a fitting visual style and excellent character design, and is well performed by all. And unlike most prequels that simply exploit audience’s love of origins, this film draws its themes from the famous story of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and builds to the events of such in a manner that is open-ended, and yet self-contained as a good stand-alone movie should be.