Frankenstein 1

At first, I didn't mind Boyle's superficiality at all. The production is admirably conservative, and with the help of a few "Boyle" trips (locomotive, birds), it brings only technically precise and quite virtuoso acting creations with a few almost brilliant moments in which Boyle was able to express, with a minimum of means, grandiose things that have moved science and art for centuries. Apropos, Benedict Cumberbatch is a god... that is definitive. (18/03/2011)

Boyle loves The Bride of Frankenstein perhaps even more than the original, but despite the monstrously overdone sets, effects, and (partially) excellent ideas, he didn't manage to escape its shadow. He only slides on the surface, "Hollywood" style. The reason why he doesn't slip once during the entire movie is because of the central duo's performances (alternating with Cumberbatch as the monster and Miller as Frankenstein). And though there is absolutely nothing to reproach them for, that cannot be said of the many supporting roles headed by an amateurish Jamaican in the role of the father; I find the casting of the other way round feels more appropriate. Boyle didn't discover America or change theater as such, he just staged a good play well and confirmed that Cumberbatch, Miller and Underworld are brilliant while he's not. (18/03/2011)

When the rumors don't lie. Even if National Theatre Live existed for no other reason than to provide us with a fused acting duality, it would be worth it a hundred times over. Frankenstein not only surpasses the boundaries of theater in the version I saw, with Benedict Cumberbatch as The Creature and Jonny Lee Miller as Victor, it cuts into the viewer with brute force, lightens up in unexpected places, visually captivates, and leaves me speechless the next day. The most intoxicating journey from purity to darkness, thanks not only to the main performance, but also the elevation of an eternal story to poignant immortality. (15/11/2018)