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| ELECTRIC: James McAvoy and Daniel Radcliffe in Victor Frankenstein |
YOU have to admire Victor Frankenstein for trying to inject fresh blood into an old familiar story.
Victor Frankenstein (Cert 12A; 110 mins)
Paul McGuigan directs with lipsmacking, barnstorming exuberance as he gleefully dives into Mary Shelley’s world of mad scientists, life beyond death and the unholy business of man deciding to play God. Initially the film is good fun and bursting with energy.
It toys with our expectations, doffing a cap to Hammer horror in one breath, acknowledging the nonsense of Mel Brooks in the next and changing the emphasis of the story until it becomes a tortured romance between Victor (James McAvoy) and his assistant Igor (Daniel Radcliffe).
Igor claims a good deal of the limelight in this version as he assumes the voice of reason in a world that seems to have lost its senses. Unfortunately Victor Frankenstein doesn’t sustain its early promise, growing increasingly garbled and over-plotted as screenwriter Max Landis struggles to incorporate the elements of family conflicts, divided loyalties, first love and a fundamental clash between blind faith and scientific curiosity. Everything starts to feel rushed, overwrought and often cheesy.
McGuigan has directed television’s Sherlock and there is a similar jauntiness to his Frankenstein which includes a number of familiar Holmes faces including a glimpse of Mark Gatiss and an earnest Andrew Scott as Inspector Turpin.
James McAvoy gives his Victor Frankenstein a rock star swagger and the arrogance of a brilliant mind that doesn’t suffer fools or understand why others don’t think as he does. When Frankenstein witnesses a pitiful circus freak performing a life-saving manoeuvre he senses a kindred spirit.
The two men of science are soon firm friends with Victor diagnosing the “hunchback” as suffering from a gigantic abscess which he drains in one of the film’s more disgusting scenes. The freak is soon walking upright, moving in polite society and is told to answer to the name of Igor, Frankenstein’s suspiciously absent flatmate. Igor owes Victor his eternal gratitude and becomes his assistant in an experiment to reanimate the dead and master mortality.
But even Igor begins to question the methods and the madness of his master. There are times when there is just too much going on. Religious Inspector Turpin vows to unmask the evil of Frankenstein, Igor falls in love with the alluring Lorelei (Jessica Brown Findlay) and we learn all about the Frankenstein family background that inspired Victor’s work. However the fully committed performances keep you engaged with McAvoy giving himself body and soul to his portrayal of a fervent, misunderstood pioneer.
You suspect his sheer drooling conviction would have made Peter Cushing proud. In its more inspired moments it provides a florid, energetic retelling of the Modern Prometheus but a closing scene that ends with the promise of a sequel seems entirely wishful thinking.
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| The Night Before: A slick, vulgar comedy |
The Night Before (Cert 15; 101mins)
Growing up is hard to do in The Night Before, a slick, vulgar comedy that uses a lot of energy and talent to generate a smattering of laughs. Ever since the death of his parents in 2001, Ethan (Joseph GordonLevitt) has spent Christmas Eve with friends Isaac (Seth Rogen) and Chris (Anthony Mackie).
This year is the last hurrah for their tradition as Isaac is about to become a dad and football player Chris has become a national star. They plan a night of karaoke, Chinese food, tacky Christmas sweaters and way too many drugs topped off with entry to New York’s most exclusive party. Body fluids, bromance and bad taste jokes dominate before the film decides to go all warm and fuzzy on us.
VERDICT: 3/5
Sunset Song (Cert 15; 133mins)
Lewis Grassic Gibbon’s 1932 novel Sunset Song is one of the classics of Scottish literature and Terence Davies brings it to the screen with tender, loving care. It is a film of painterly beauty and deeply felt emotion in which Agyness Deyn is outstanding as Chris Guthrie. Set in the north-east of Scotland in the early years of the 20th century it follows Chris as she attempts to escape the long shadow of her fierce, domineering father (Peter Mullan) and a community that regards an educated woman with suspicion.
There is a real sense of time passing as the seasons revolve from the golden glow of summer cornfields to the bitter winters of brick-hard earth and blankets of snow. Chris’s life is eternally linked to an unforgiving land in which endless toil brings scant reward. There is a fleeting happiness in her marriage to handsome charmer Ewan (Kevin Guthrie) but even that union seems designed to break her spirit.
Sunset Song feels a little rushed in its second half with Ewan’s changing nature very abruptly handled but most of the time it is a sombre, sublime drama with a performance from Deyn that reminds you of silent cinema icon Lillian Gish.
VERDICT: 4/5
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| Krampus: A cautionary tale for anyone who has ever uttered the word “humbug” |
Krampus (Cert 15; 98mins)
It’s not just Santa Claus who is coming to town. In one family the Christmas spirit is in such short supply that an evil force has been unleashed to punish non-believers. Max (Emjay Anthony) is the youngster who cannot stand the constant rows and bickering that have become par for the course. Who wants to settle down for a happy family Christmas with mum Sarah (Toni Collette), dad Tom (Adam Scott) and the rest of their extended clan if everyone is at each other’s throats? Max’s growing disillusionment is what conjures up the Krampus and causes all hell to break loose. A mixture of giggles and gore that’s a cautionary tale for anyone who has ever uttered the word “humbug”.
VERDICT: 3/5
Future Shock! The Story Of 2000AD (Cert 15; 107mins)
2000AD has been going for almost 40 years so it must be doing something right. When it first appeared it was violent, anarchic and viciously funny. It seemed to bring the spirit of the punk era into the world of the British comic book and became a breeding ground for characters such as vicious law enforcer Judge Dredd, fire-breathing alien Nemesis The Warlock and Strontium Dog with mutant bounty hunter Johnny Alpha.
Future Shock! The Story Of 2000AD is a lovingly detailed history of a great British institution and its influence on the wider culture. A treasure trove of insight and opinion for fans but also a film that doesn’t pull its punches in capturing the highs and lows of creating and sustaining such a cutting-edge publication.
VERDICT: 4/5
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| The Lesson: A gripping, thought-provoking morality tale |
The Lesson (Cert 15; 111mins)
Principles are a luxury that few people can afford when money is tight and the bank is breathing down your neck. In The Lesson, dedicated schoolteacher Nadezhda (Margita Gosheva) has a firm sense of right and wrong, crime and punishment.
Then she discovers that her feckless husband has not been keeping up the payments on their bank loans. So Nadezhda has three days to make the payments or the house will be repossessed. A gripping, thought-provoking morality tale with an award-winning performance from Margita Gosheva.
VERDICT: 4/5
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