When Guillermo del Toro wants to make a Frankenstein movie, your best move is to get out of his way. The certified Connoisseur of the Weird had Mary Shelly's seminal Gothic novel in the chamber for years, but unlike the eponymic scientist of the novel, del Toro created not a monster—but a masterpiece.
Running at a weighty 2 hours and 3 minutes, Frankenstein isn't exactly light watching. But del Toro's deft direction and the story's arresting flow keep you glued to your seat. In this reimagining of the classic novel, brilliant but tormented scientist Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac) assembles body parts from the dead and stitches them together to spark life in a storm-tossed quest to conquer death. But when his grotesque creation awakens (in the form of a lithe Jacob Elordi), the war between creator and Creature begins as it searches for meaning, connection...and vengeance.
When you need your monster feature to look good, you need get the best person for the job, which is why the Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein feels like a labor of love. del Toro, one of the last remaining breeds of auteurs, makes every cent of Frankenstein's $120 million budget work in every frame. The world of Frankenstein comes alive in lavish gothic sets and impressive practical effects, an obvious labor of love from concept artists, set designers, and costume makers. This attention to detail gives the movie del Toro's signature storybook feel even as its pages are steeped in blood and gore.
The fully realized world gives the cast the freedom to bring their A-game. Oscar Isaac is fun to watch chew scenery as the doomed Victor Frankenstein. Mia Goth narrowly avoids being typecast with an ethereal turn as Lady Elizabeth Harlander, while Christoph Waltz plays her uncle Henrich Harlander with his signature twinge of madness.
Ironically, Jacob Elordi brings his character—the Creature—to unnerving life with a performance that sticks with you long after the credits stop rolling. Even with the gnarly undead prosthetics that you could smell from your screen, Elordi deftly moves the audience from pity to fear to empathy with both supernatural grace and sinewy strength. The search for what makes one human is a core theme of del Toro's Frankenstein, and Elordi serves up a haunting portrayal of something not human learning a painful lesson on humanity.
As the sun sets on both the Creature and the movie itself, I feel compelled to give Guillermo del Toro his flowers. Unlike Victor, our favorite director finally was able to put his favorite story to film exactly the way he wanted. Highly recommended!
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