Movie Breakdown: Victor Frankenstein

The Impression:

Relatable Professor X (James McAvoy) and Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) star in Victor Frankenstein.  I assumed the movie was part of the shared “monster” universe that began last year with Dracula Untold, but it doesn’t actually seem to be connected at all.  Regardless, it doesn’t look particularly good.

The Reality:

Victor Frankenstein is one of the laziest films I’ve seen this year.  Writer Max Landis (Chronicle, American Ultra) clearly watched Sherlock Holmes and Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows, scribbled out a template, and then went about filling it out with Frankenstein-themed items.  Victor (played by a manic James McAvoy) is a possibly insane genius, Igor (played by a bewildered Daniel Radcliffe) is the talented protege with a heart of gold, Lorelei (played by the doing-the-best-she-can Jessica Brown Findlay) is Igor’s loyal but cautious love interest, and there’s also an incompetent cop and an rich evil-doer.  Does that all sound familiar?  It should, because those are the exact characters from the goddamn aforementioned Sherlock Holmes movies!  All that’s missing is a love interest for Victor (i.e. the Rachel McAdams character)!  Oh, and also anything fun or a plot that could possibly even slightly warrant the existence of a Frankenstein origin story.  Want to know the best part about Victor Frankenstein though?  Director Paul McGuigan must have done his prep in coordination with Landis, because he spends the entire film doing his best to mimic Guy Ritchie’s style.  Awful.  Just awful.  That’s the only way that I can properly describe what I saw at every turn for nearly two hours.

I sat through Victor Frankenstein for you.  Don’t worry about thanking me.  Just go watch anything else and then get on with living your life.

The Lesson:

Hollywood seems to have jumped off the remake train in order to board the re-imagine bus.  This is unfortunate.