There has been a slew of films that have been coming out over the past couple of years that have been tackling the old classic monsters like Dracula. This time around, 20TH Century Fox decided to give us a new look at the Mary Shelly classic Frankenstein story with Victor Frankenstein. Victor Frankenstein tells the classic tale from the perspective of Victor’s (James McAvoy) trusty sidekick Igor (Daniel Radcliffe). He offers us a fresh new look at his very dark and bleak beginnings and how he met Victor Frankenstein. The film also looks at how Victor would become the man, the myth, and the legend who built the world famous monster in this retelling of the horror classic. The film also stars Jessica Brown Findlay (Downton Abbey) as Lorelei, Bronson Webb (Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban) as Rafferty, Daniel Mays (The Adventures Of Tintin) as Barnaby, Spencer Wilding (Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance) as Prometheus, Andrew Scott (Saving Private Ryan) as Inspector Turpin, Callum Turner (Queen & Country) as Alistair, Freddie Fox (The Mystery Of Edwin Drood) as Finnegan, Charles Dance (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies) as Frankenstein, Alistair Petrie (The Bank Job) as Chief Inspector, and the film was directed by Paul McGuigan (Lucky Number Slevin).
I want to start by saying that this actually wasn’t a bad film and I actually enjoyed the direction they took the film in. We are so used to seeing Victor Frankenstein and Igor when they are already in search of body parts and such, but never from the beginning and not like this. Victor is someone who is hell bent on getting this experiment done because he wants to prove to the world that he can do it or at least that is the reason we are led to believe. I love how we discover what Igor’s origins are in the film and how he doesn’t really have an identity. I love a line in the film where Igor is telling Victor that people are not going to remember the man who created the monster, only the monster. It kind of foreshadows all of the films that have come out in the past. The other part of the story that I enjoyed was the inspector played by Andrew Scott, who plays this man that opposes Victor due to his beliefs in God which is the perfect counterpart for a man wanting to play God. The monster when it is presented is very cool looking and different than the rest of the monsters in the past, but he is so minor of a player in the film. The cinematography is cool and the tone of the films is very Gothic and dark which is exactly what we want from these films. Like I said before, this is actually a pretty good film and one I think you should give a chance to if you are a fan of the story. With that said, I am going to give the film an B for a final grade.
There are certain characters in the history of cinema that transcend time and are so iconic they carry their weight for years. James Bond is definitely one of those characters no matter who plays him and that is why I chose Spectre for today’s film. Daniel Craig (Skyfall) once again reprises the role of James Bond in this film as he investigates a new, but familiar threat. The 00 program’s existence is being threatened by the potential merger of all the world’s security/spy programs coming together thanks to MI6, but M (Ralph Fiennes) will try his best to stop it. Something about it just doesn’t add up thanks to a message from someone familiar to James and he is on the case. The closer he gets to the truth the more deceit their is to all of it and this organization known as Spectre. The film also stars Christoph Waltz (Inglorious Basterds) as Blofeld, Léa Seydoux (The Grand Budapest Hotel) as Madeleine, Monica Bellucci (Passion Of The Christ) as Lucia, Benjamin Whishaw (Cloud Atlas) as Q, Naomie Harris (28 Days Later…) as Moneypenny, Dave Bautista (Guardians Of The Galaxy) as Hinx, Andrew Scott (Saving Private Ryan) as C, Rory Kinnear (The Imitation Game) as Tanner, and the film was directed by Sam Mendes (American Beauty).
First, I wanted to take the time to list all the things that I didn’t like about the film and one big one is the theme song. While I don’t think Writing’s On The Wall by Sam Smith is complete crap, I don’t think that it was a great follow up to Adele’s Skyfall theme. There are so many Bond themes that are better than this one even though it was the only element of the film that won an Oscar. There are three elements that are important to every James Bond film and those are theme song, Villain, and Bond girls and I have already discussed one. Some people may have been pissed that Dave Bautista had literally one line in the whole film, but I think that added to his benefit. You knew he was a bad ass thug with weird thumbs, but he didn’t have to speak to be the henchman. Christoph Waltz is a brilliant actor, but I struggled to find the brilliance in this film. I don’t blame him for that, but rather the writing. The Bond Girls were OK in my opinion, but strange how an almost life/death experience would drive one to want to make love. This wasn’t the best Bond film, but it wasn’t the worst either. I struggled to write what the plot of the film was in the above paragraph because there wasn’t really a plot. There was just action with a lot of nothingness in between all of it. If this was Daniel Craig’s last film then so be it. I think it’s time for some new blood in the role of James Bond anyways. I definitely appreciate all that Daniel Craig did for the Bond series, he was definitely a breath of fresh air at one point for the series. I am going to give Spectre an B- for a final grade.
365moviesin365dayschallenge 