“It’s alive!” Victor exclaims, his eyes gleaming maniacally, “It’s alive!”  Without having read Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, one would expect this line to be the climax of the story, or at least, this was the case for me.  After I read the gothic story, however, I found this to be a highly romanticized, fictitious event.  The film Victor Frankenstein, on the other hand, embraces this misconception.  Victor Frankenstein is exactly what one would expect the movie to be, if he/she haven't read the book.
     

The plot revolves around the creation of the monster, not the repercussions of the monster’s existence.  Victor experiments in his lab with his assistant Igor; he doesn’t lock himself away from civilization of all kind.  Victor is the misunderstood genius trying to right a past wrong, not a mad scientist obsessed solely with the science behind bringing something to life.  Henry is Victor brother, not his childhood friend.
   

On its own, I enjoyed the movie, even if it was only because of the amazing actors and actresses present in the film.  James McAvoy’s Victor is my favorite adaptation of the character.  He was able to present Victor’s obsessive side while still drawing the viewers in and making them sympathize with him.  His emotional portrayal was heart wrenching in the best way possible.  Daniel Radcliffe’s Igor was a lovely adaptation, as long as you look over the fact that the character himself was an addition to the plot.  Inspector Turpin played by Andrew Scott and Lorelei played by Jessica Findlay were also characters whose presence was a nice surprise since the characters were fabricated for the movie.  Each of these individuals added a new well-developed facet to the film.  Their stories added a more human aspect that viewers could relate to.  In conclusion, the actors and actresses were the movie’s saving grace in my opinion.
   

Victor Frankenstein is a movie based not off Mary Shelley’s book, but rather the legend of a man who gave life to a monster of his own creation.  The book the movie was “based off of” was scrapped as soon as the director Paul McGuigan got news of what actors he could cast in the movie.  At that point, the decision was made to create a movie that revolved around the characters invented and not to create a movie that accurately followed the plot line of Mary Shelley’s book.  If the actors and actresses were any less amazing than they were, I would have condemned the movie.  As it is, I would recommend this movie on two conditions:

1. You haven’t read the book Frankenstein and are then unprejudiced against any inaccuracies.
2. You are incredibly interested in the actors and actresses and will appreciate the actors from Harry Potter, X-Men, and “Sherlock”.