Frankenstein (2025) review

Even the sleepiest high school freshman should at least be loosely aware of what takes place in Mary Shelley's classic novel, so I'll keep this brief: momma's boy Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac) is traumatized by the passing of his mother, receives training from his snarling father (Charles Dance) in medicine and then starts collecting body parts - with the aid of nefarious Harlander (Christoph Waltz) - to create a monster (Jacob Elordi) that he neglects and abuses; the narrative then shifts to his creation's point-of-view as he tries to lend assistance to a blind man (David Bradley) and the only person who feels pity for him is Lady Elizabeth (Mia Goth).  Since there is no shortage of adaptations of this book, one can't help but ask what this version brings to it ... and it turns out not that much: the sets and costumes are fancy and Del Toro the horror fanatic relishes all the gnarly props and piles of organs scattered around, but it struggles to be truly engaging as a tale of "failed parenthood" and unfortunately invites comparisons to the equally lackluster Branagh film from 1994.  Elordi's quite ominous as the lanky (and virtually indestructible) humanoid - bravo to both the actor and the makeup and prosthetics team - although overall it's missing the camp appeal of Paul Morrissey's interpretation or the iconic appearance of Boris Karloff in James Whale's 1931 movie.