Frankenstein: Legacy is one of those films that will pleasantly surprise you. There hasn't been much hype surrounding it but there should be. The story alone is quite intriguing. Taking place shortly after Shelly's literary masterpiece, Dr. Frankenstein's Arctic chase of his creature has ended in tragedy. The journal which contains all of his research has been stolen and sold to the highest bidder. By hook, by crook and murder the journal changes hands again and again in a cool little sequence until it lands in those of scientist Millicent (the brilliant Juliet Aubrey). Her hubby Robert (Waterloo Road's Philip Martin Brown) is dying and Millicent sees Frankenstein's research as a way of saving, preserving his life.
Even under the constraints of the film's budget and with no lines to speak of, Philip Martin Brown does a magnificent job as the Creature. The Creature itself is a blend of what you have seen in previous films and in stage adaptions which stick closer to Shelly's creature as opposed to the characterizations we've seen on the big screen.
BTW: If you can ever check out the 2011 Royal National Theatre adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein in which Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller swapped playing the roles of Victor Frankenstein and his creature, please do so. You will be glad that you did. Their rendition is one of the very best. Cumberbatch and Miller also played Sherlock Holmes in two distinctly different versions of the character for television in BBC's Sherlock and Elementary on CBS.
Legacy's Creature could have used a bit more movie magic to make him look far more imposing especially compared to some of the other characters he is supposed to be lording over but Brown deftly jumps between being a threatening beast and a sympathetic being who never asked to be reborn, he himself is a victim of sorts. The ending is more than a little bit harried and seems rushed in places but Frankenstein: Legacy is certainly a worthy chapter in the Frankenstein film library.
Even under the constraints of the film's budget and with no lines to speak of, Philip Martin Brown does a magnificent job as the Creature. The Creature itself is a blend of what you have seen in previous films and in stage adaptions which stick closer to Shelly's creature as opposed to the characterizations we've seen on the big screen.
BTW: If you can ever check out the 2011 Royal National Theatre adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein in which Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller swapped playing the roles of Victor Frankenstein and his creature, please do so. You will be glad that you did. Their rendition is one of the very best. Cumberbatch and Miller also played Sherlock Holmes in two distinctly different versions of the character for television in BBC's Sherlock and Elementary on CBS.
Legacy's Creature could have used a bit more movie magic to make him look far more imposing especially compared to some of the other characters he is supposed to be lording over but Brown deftly jumps between being a threatening beast and a sympathetic being who never asked to be reborn, he himself is a victim of sorts. The ending is more than a little bit harried and seems rushed in places but Frankenstein: Legacy is certainly a worthy chapter in the Frankenstein film library.