listen. it wasn't perfect. but. five stars. a hundred stars. im insane im rabid i fucking LOVED THIS MOVIE!!!!!!!!!
i have been VERY eagerly anticipating this movie since it's announcement in 2023 because i knew that guillermo del toro had been floating around the idea of a book-faithful adaptation of the novel for a long time now. i was so excited about the trailer, i was sooo worried i was going to be disappointed but NO! LOVED IT!!! though! i am willing to admit it is not a very good adaptation. good interpretation, certainly! very unfaithful to the book, however. the tweaks made to the narrative were pretty major, but i honestly did not expect a guillermo del toro movie to not be sympathetic to the monster. for what it was, i absolutely loved the characterisation for cinematic victor and the creature; making victor harsher and crueller in the image of his (movie backstory) father, making the creature softer and gentler and never killing out of malicious intent. AUGH. i have a feeling this is going to be very divisive; if changing the creature's attitude towards violence is a good change or an insult to the narrative, buuuutt i personally quite enjoyed it. the creature has always been very kicked-dog-vibes to me, so a narrative where it lashes out in aggression and anger or a movie where it reaches out with tentative, terrified hope are both delightful in my eyes. the ending was also slightly different but only by virtue of being more hopeful, which i liked very much for this interpretation. to forgive is very human, i liked that they both got to have that moment.
do i think the people who hate this movie are wrong? not necessarily; i have been disappointed again and again waiting on a book faithful frankenstein movie, so i understand the frustration. i do think this movie was lovely though for what it was, i think it was very pretty and it did live up to my mild expectations. loved the creature design! i'm afraid my hunt for a good book accurate frankenstein movie will be continuing though