"Guillermo del Toro has been telling monster stories for as long as he's been making films. A romantic with keen appreciation for the macabre, his creations are things of strange beauty, haunting, poetic and unforgettable. It's no wonder his earliest love was Frankenstein, first the Boris Karloff film, then the novel, which set him on a path to becoming a filmmaker."
"Del Toro has always loved the "monster" and, perhaps because of that love, has stripped him of the complexities that made Shelley's character so fascinating. Here, the creation is an innocent, subject to the same impulses of rage as a toddler. But, thankfully for parents everywhere, toddlers can, generally, be contained. This creature's strength is superhuman, which is unfortunate for anyone who happens to provoke him."
Guillermo del Toro retells Frankenstein by giving both Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac) and the creation (Jacob Elordi) narrative presence. The creation is depicted as an innocent with toddler-like impulses of rage and superhuman strength, which results in grisly, violent encounters. Victor appears brilliant, egotistical and theatrical, driven by obsession to surpass his father and possibly to save his late mother. The film contrasts a first half of frenzied creation with a second half focused on discovery. The creature lacks many of the novel’s complexities and the film emphasizes haunting beauty alongside explicit brutality.
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