FRANKENSTEIN 2025: DEFENDING VICTOR

Since October, I've had several opportunities to re-experience Guillermo del Toro's adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Revised notions have entered my head, most of which have proven minor and fleeting, and yet one remains pronounced: that misconstrued need among some to malign Victor, prior to the heartless, self-serving point where he's moved to incinerate his towering creation. 

Let's keep in mind that it's Victor, and no other, who constructed the neo Adam. Yes, Harlander may have financed Victor's endeavors, but it's Victor's genius that bestows life into the assembled, dead parts. The Creature exists only because of him, and unlike in Shelley's novel, Victor doesn't abandon his "child" upon its birth, but rather takes the time to nurture it, only to face an infuriating succession. 

Beyond uttering Victor's name, the Creature dares not speak, and it's only when Elizabeth, betrothed to Victor's brother, William, enters the scene that any viable communication is achieved. Even then, the results are limited. Still, the Creature takes to the beautiful Elizabeth, and can one blame the poor, primal soul? Still, its acceptance of her (considering that she applies little effort to secure the favor) is a terrible snub to its ardent maker. 

Granted, Victor's decision to discard the Creature, to burn it alive, is an unforgivable turn. It doesn't gain Victor any sympathy, any more than in Shelley's novel when Victor allows poor Justine to be hanged for William's death, even though his monster did the deed. In a similar way, Victor wins no points in Del Toro's movie when he fires upon his "son" and kills Elizabeth in the unintended process. Victor owns the heedless blunder, pure and simple.

Whether good, bad or just plain ambitious, Victor emerges as the misunderstood and downtrodden one in Del Toro's revisionist world. One can presume that the director (re)designed him as the retelling's implacable antagonist, based on the same biased, social-commentary he applied to The Shape of Water. Because the scales are so tilted against the titular genius, his plight feels far harsher than what his Creature endures. 

Well, there's my defense. Some will disagree with it, but I hold the verdict close to my heart, and why not? That's what visionary art does. It plants the necessary seeds to grow those outcome(s) that best suit one's unfeigned views. 

I SAW FRANKENSTEIN 2025

When I learned of Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein, I was both hopeful yet wary. Despite the director/writer's evident love for classic monsters, I found his Gill-man update (The Shape of Water) more insolent than inspiring due to its monster-wins-girl novelty and its villainous stereotypes. Nevertheless, I came to understand that the director's Frankenstein would stick to the thematic core of Mary Shelley's novel, and if so, there was a decent shot it would satisfy. 

As it stands, del Toro's Frankenstein, which he scripted, is far from a page-by-page reenactment of the book, but it would have been foolish to think it would be. (For the record, Calvin Floyd's Terror of Frankenstein and Kevin Connor's Frankenstein 2004 are the most faithful film versions, though each tends to be overlooked by the so-called afficionados.) Del Toro's Frankenstein is at least faithful to its Prometheus premise, which suffices, though filtered through such colorful and ornate, 1970s Frankenstein productions as The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Andy Warhol's Flesh for Frankenstein and Frankenstein: The True Story, thanks to Tamara Deverel's elaborate interiors and Dan Laustsen's complementing cinematography. 

The lavish decor dominates the movie's first half, which surrounds Victor, a man who seeks a "ninth configuration" spark (so to speak) to reanimate the deceased, due to the long-ago death of his mother. Things grow grittier (more Universal/Hammer-eque) when the movie switches to the Creature. Either way, these melodramatic bookends play not only off del Toro's deft direction, they're empowered by Alexandre Desplat's sweeping score, which does much to enhance the "operatic" moods, as do the performers and their character interpretations. 

For Victor, we have Oscar Isaac, who fits the scheme, considering the actor reached success as a Frankenstein type in Alex Garland's android epic, Ex Machina. For the super-powerful, regenerating Creature  (designed by the adroit Mike Hill), we get Jacob (The Mortuary Collection/Euphoria) Elordi, a not-so-hideous, green-skinned entity, but it's more his anguish that spins his ugliness (much of which bleeds from jealousy and revenge). His poignant, towering stature also does the emblematic trick. (As the retelling progresses, Victor becomes more the baddie, and the Creature the goodie: a plan explored in Franc Roddam's underrated The Bride and Marcus Nispel's innovative Frankenstein 2024.)  

The captivating Mia Goth plays Lady Elizabeth (as well as Victor's mother, Claire, for the brief time in which her presence lasts). In this case, Elizabeth is betrothed to Felix Kammerer's doomed William Frankenstein. Goth is an apt casting choice, standing as a current-day Hazel Court (Elizabeth in The Curse of Frankenstein), Ingrid Pitt and Barbara Steele, thanks to Goth's roles in Ti West's X/Pearl/MaXXXine. Like Court, Pitt and Steele, Goth is easy on the eyes and delivers this adaptation to a further, ornamental level. I only wish she had more screen time, though her interaction with the Creature is memorable and moving. 

The rest of the cast is equally evocative, entering at varying times at varying lengths. For one, Leopold, Victor's father, is played by Charles (Phantom of the Opera 1990/Alien 3) Dance (costar of Paul McGuinan's Victor Frankenstein, where he plays the father of James McAvoy's titular lead). Dance's character, a revered physician, is essential in establishing a vehement rivalry with his son and as such, perpetuates a Fear Strikes Out dynamic that foreshadows Victor and the Creature's relationship. 

Along with Dance, we're introduced to Christoph Waltz's Heinrich Harlander, an ambitious arms merchant who's Elizabeth's uncle and the financier of Victor's experiments; Lars (Headhunter/The Witcher) Mikkelsen as Captain Anderson (called Walton in the novel, as well as other adaptations); the ever erudite Ralph (The First Omen/Fantastic 4: First Steps) Ineson as Professor Krempe and David (Game of Thrones/Captain America: First Avenger) Bradley as the compassionate, blind man the Creature befriends. 

Even though it's familiar turf, the ingredients do work their Gothic charm, ensuring that Frankenstein 2025 is a solid, gory, atmospheric remake. It distinguishes itself from other Frankenstein adaptations where it can, while recalling others for nostalgic cause, never reinventing the wheel to substitute Shelley's intent with modern, social-demographic cleverness. On this basis, it holds a proper, timeless feel. I can accept it, and as I've done with so many other Frankenstein endeavors, be content to revisit it.