49
Metascore
17 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- Writers Steph Lady and Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption) retain much of the source's action and all of its spirit, but still make the work speak to our age.
- 75ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliMary Shelley's Frankenstein may not be the definitive version of the 1817 novel, and the director likely attempted more than is practical for a two-hour film, but overambition is preferable to the alternative, especially if it results - as in this case - in something more substantial than Hollywood's typical, fitfully entertaining fluff.
- 63Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertI admired the scenes with De Niro so much I'm tempted to give Mary Shelley's Frankenstein a favorable verdict. But it's a near miss. The Creature is on target, but the rest of the film is so frantic, so manic, it doesn't pause to be sure its effects are registered.
- 60EmpireAngie ErrigoEmpireAngie ErrigoSumptuous to look at, with some decent performances but Branagh's attempt at this gothic horror just doesn't hold together convincingly and fails to engage.
- 50Chicago TribuneGene SiskelChicago TribuneGene SiskelBy using the author's name [Branagh] sets us up for something closer to the text of the Gothic thriller than James Whale's classic 1931 horror film. But Branagh's version is too respectful and ultimately, well, lifeless.
- 50NewsweekDavid AnsenNewsweekDavid AnsenBranagh's two Shakespeare films have been triumphs-meaty, moving and fun. Bard-less, the director flounders. His Frankenstein gives off the same hollow echo that Dead Again did, the same mixture of stylistic flair and insincerity.
- 40Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranLos Angeles TimesKenneth TuranEven if the vivid Whale/Karloff version had never been made, this treatment of the Shelley novel would be a loud and tacky disappointment.
- 40Time OutTime OutNot frightening, just silly.
- 40VarietyBrian LowryVarietyBrian LowryFar from the definitive version of the tale, this lavish but overwrought melodrama is in many ways less compelling than even a recent made-for-cable movie and a 1973 miniseries starring Michael Sarrazin that was less faithful to the source material.
- 37Washington PostHal HinsonWashington PostHal HinsonAll too faithfully adapted by Kenneth Branagh, the film is the last thing that one would expect of a contemporary highbrow version of this ageless horror classic. It is, in a word, dullsville.