Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, is considered to be the first science fiction novel ever. The monster from this story is the first fictional creature to be created not from mysticism or occult rituals, but from scientific hubris. There has been a legion of film adaptations of this story, in fact, one of Edison Studios' first motion picture is a retelling of the Frankenstein tale. There have been many other attempts to translate the tale to film since, the most famous of which is the Universal Studios version from 1931, but in 1994, Kenneth Branagh directed what is possibly the most faithful adaptation of Mary Shelley's original novel. The movie begins with a voice over quote written by Mary Shelley talking about 'speaking to the mysterious fears of our nature' or some such, then opens to Captain Robert Walton (Aidan Quinn) leading an expedition to the north pole and getting many of his crew killed in the process. Once the ship is trapped against and ice flow, he sees a shape moving against the horizon. This is Victor Frankenstein (Kenneth Branagh) and once he is brought on board, he begins to recount the story of his life and why he has traveled to the Arctic Circle, and spares the audience no detail in the process. My guess is, in the name of 'faithful adaptation,' almost no detail from the book is left out of Victor's life story. This results in the first half-hour of the movie being all over the damn place as the editor tries to move through all this exposition as quickly as possible. The first quarter of this movie is seriously one eighties power ballad away from becoming a montage. As we sprint though Victor's early years, we learn that his dad (Ian Holm) is a highly respected doctor, his mother (Cherie Lunghi) died while giving birth to his younger brother William, (Ryan Smith) and that he has fallen in love with his adopted sister Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter who's hair, as usual, is out of control) but Victor must finish medical school before they can be married.
While at the University, Victor befriends and learns from Professor Waldman (John Cleese) who is studying the effects of galvanism (chemically induced electrical reactions) in activating dead muscle tissue. Victor, who has had a big problem with mortality ever since his mommy died, takes this idea and runs with it, completing Waldman's research after the Professor's untimely murder. He raids several morgues and even poaches Waldman's brain to construct a body that he brings to life with electric eels in a tub of boiling amniotic fluid. Victor accidentally almost kills his new creation (Robert De Niro) who then flips his shit and chases Victor around trying to attack him. Frankenstein renounces his monster and goes for an ax to undo his mistake, but the creature escapes into the night. While this movie does have some flashes of brilliance and some truly gruesome elements, it lacks the visual creativity and consistency of films like City of Lost Children to stand out as the scientific nightmare that it should have been. Robert De Niro's performance as the monster is the strongest in the whole production (most of which is done through facial expressions and body language) but his look comes off as nothing more than a patch-work version of Sloth from The Goonies and lacks any kind of iconic visual presence. Don't get me wrong; I have nothing but respect for Kenneth Branagh as an actor and a director, but he was just out of his element in this movie.
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