Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994, Kenneth Branagh)

I’m trying to think of good things about Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. It starts off poorly, with an opening title seemingly made on a cheap video editor from the late 1970s, then moves into the Walton framing sequence. Apparently, no one involved with the film—Branagh, the screenwriters, the producers—understood the point of these frames in the novel. Here, Branagh uses them as a warning about obsession. I think. He saddles that delivery on Aidan Quinn, who’s absolutely awful in the film.

But terrible performances are Frankenstein’s surplus. Branagh is laughably bad, sometimes so bewilderingly bad one wonders how he thought he was making a reasonable film. Tom Hulce is weak, as Branagh seems to have instructed him to play it like Amadeus. The elephant in the room is Robert De Niro as the monster.

Between De Niro’s risible performance and Branagh’s ludicrous direction, Frankenstein might actually work as a big joke. It’s somewhat unthinkable these two filmmakers—who have done such substantial work elsewhere—really thought they were making a good film. The film reminds one, on multiple occasions, Young Frankenstein is far better.

There are some good performances—Helena Bonham Carter is nowhere near as bad as the two leads, Ian Holm holds it together in his few significant scenes and Trevyn McDowell is good. John Cleese is… out of place, to say the least.

The film’s not an adaptation of the novel, rather an amalgam of every Frankenstein film before it; I can’t believe no one sued.

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CREDITS

Directed by Kenneth Branagh; screenplay by Steph Lady and Frank Darabont, based on the novel by Mary Shelley; director of photography, Roger Pratt; edited by Andrew Marcus; music by Patrick Doyle; production designer, Tim Harvey; produced by Francis Ford Coppola, James V. Hart and John Veitch; released by TriStar Pictures.

Starring Robert De Niro (The Creature), Kenneth Branagh (Victor Frankenstein), Tom Hulce (Henry Clerval), Helena Bonham Carter (Elizabeth), Aidan Quinn (Captain Robert Walton), Trevyn McDowell (Justine), Ian Holm (Baron Frankenstein), Robert Hardy (Professor Krempe), Celia Imrie (Mrs. Moritz) and John Cleese (Professor Waldman).


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OTHER FRANKENSTEIN FILMS
OTHER FILMS DIRECTED BY KENNETH BRANAGH
OTHER 1994 RELEASES

Xombi (1994) #6

And so Rozum promised a lot, maybe without realizing it, from this issue and he delivers. He delivers more than I hoped.

He seems to get how important it is for Xombi to finally be about the protagonist. This issue, the supernatural oddness of the last four are almost forgotten; their brief mentions are all to remind they exist in an otherworldly realm David doesn’t primarily inhabit.

Rozum narrates it first person, from David’s point of view. It’s the first time he’s really gotten inside the character and he sends him on a tragic, but redemptive issue.

My cynical side says this issue should have been the second one, but the time in between this one and the first makes it all the more affecting. Birch is a lot more on target here too, without all the supernatural elements.

It’s a great comic book and sets Xombi’s bar rather high.

Xombi (1994) #5

The soft cliffhanger implies Rozum is going to start dealing with David’s stuff next issue. I’m not holding my breath, but I am somewhat hopeful….

This issue is another mixed bag. The issue revolves around this giant monster—who Rozum just now introduces, even though he’s been sort of present a while—and the gang trying to defeat with it. It doesn’t taken them very long. In fact, it’s like Rozum and Birch don’t realize they’re not doing a movie. Giant monsters in comics don’t have a lot of dramatic effect.

One of the non-permanent supporting cast members exits here too. He’s last scene is one of the best scenes in a Xombi issue in a while. It’s very bittersweet and touching, even if Rozum abbreviated it a little too much.

Still, lots of good character moments and the plot does move.

And I’m hopeful for the next one.

Xombi (1994) #4

Even Birch seems to give up a little this issue, which introduces a bunch of new things—not just new characters, but new creatures—for David Kim to contend with. Birch’s faces look unfinished, like he skipped inking them because he had to much other stuff to do.

There’s only a little stuff with Kim this issue; he gets to beat up the villain and show off his superpowers again. By the end, Rozum is already introducing more stuff for the next issue.

Xombi doesn’t work in any traditional sense—it’s like Rozum had an idea for the big story and just used his protagonist to tell that story. It’s an okay story (too many proper nouns to remember), but Rozum’s characters are really good and the dialogue’s funny.

It’s just not particularly compelling. Because he drops the reader into this preexisting situation, it’s impossible to really care about it.

Xombi (1994) #3

At one point this issue, the Nun of the Above—who’s that nun I mentioned last time—tells one of the new cast members she’s never heard of him. My response is similar. I’m weary at trying to keep the cast straight. From the first five pages, Rozum has got five or six people moving through the issue.

He introduces two to six more by the end, depending how you want to count. It’s all very mystical, very supernatural… and has nothing to do with protagonist David Kim.

It’s impossible to discount the comic book. Xombi is a very good comic book; Birch’s art matches the script and the script is well written.

It’s just almost impossible to connect with. David Kim hasn’t even called his fiancée yet. We haven’t even established if people are going to call him David or something else.

Rozum’s dragging the reader through a mess.

Xombi (1994) #2

J.J. Birch is the perfect artist for this book. He can even make cute little mechanical birds like mildly scary.

Rozum resolves his cliffhanger. Actually, it wasn’t a hard cliffhanger, but a soft one. There are no happy moments, no redemptive ones, no smiles.

Well, maybe some smiles. Here, Rozum introduces the supporting cast—and, yes, one of them is a nun—and he has a good time with them. They’re all meeting the protagonist, David Kim, for first time, but they’ve been around together. There’s bickering, there are inside jokes; it’s a great scene.

There’s some hints at the villains too, and it definitely seems as though Rozum is going to embrace the supernatural with the series, which is kind of strange. It’s about a science-based “superhero” who deals exclusively with magical antagonists. I’m sure Rozum can make it work.

But, the endless proper nouns are getting annoying.

Xombi (1994) #1

There’s a way to end on a downer….

Wow.

Rozum moves between science and magic this issue. The science stuff basically just uses concepts the reader is likely familiar with—nanotechnology mostly—and shows how awesome it could be. The magic is a little different. It gives Rozum a lot of room to be creative. He also gets to have a ghost-busting nun—well, I’m hoping she’s a ghost-busting nun.

The issue takes place over a day, so the reader gets to know the protagonist through his new assistant. It’s an interesting kind of protagonist for a comic. He’s Asian, first of all, but he’s also old enough to have grey temples and he’s completely ordinary. He’s a former adjunct professor who’s still working on getting his Ph.D. In other words, he’s boring.

The ending rushes, but it makes the cliffhanger works even better.

It’s an amazing finish.

Xombi (1994) #0

What a goofy way to launch a series. This zero issue of Xombi—introducing the character—doesn’t just take place during a crossover, it also takes place eleven issues into the regular series run. Except the series hasn’t started its regular run yet. John Rozum explains it all in the letters page, but avoids mentioning how difficult it might be to understand.

But, given the constraints, he does a fine job introducing the character. He does the important stuff—establishing the superpowers, his identity—not much else. It’s actually a nice way of being dropped into a situation.

Besides a rocky start with the crossover mastermind, the issue’s good. Rozum has a lot of fun with the two guys trying to recruit Xombi. The bickering is a definite plus.

On the art, Denys Cowan and Jimmy Palmiotti do a nice job. Cowan’s frantic style makes it an atypical superhero book.

Hellboy: Seed of Destruction (1994) #4

Rasputin still doesn’t get identified by name—but based on all the expository dialogue, it’s surprising Hellboy couldn’t figure it out. I guess he never took any history classes.

The series winds down with some more big action sequences, one involving Abe and Liz Sherman. Well, not exactly Liz Sherman. Mignola and Byrne had very little use for her (Hellboy talks about her in the narration more than she talks in dialogue). It makes her feel like a fifth wheel, only around because the comic book readers must have a pretty face.

Also interesting is how passive Hellboy and Abe are in the grand conclusion—Hellboy gets a little moment alone with Rasputin with foreshadowing—but the big part is resolved somewhat without them.

Still, it’s decent.

The Monkeyman backup features Adams screwing up tenses in his first person narration. There’s little else to say about it, except weak art.

Hellboy: Seed of Destruction (1994) #3

Adams (sorry, starting with him again, I know) must intentionally draw bad faces. Everything else is so detailed… faces not. So it’s a choice. A bad one, but a choice.

Mignola and Byrne get a lot of content into this issue. I don’t think Rasputin ever even gets named, just his history introduced—the majority of the issue, besides an opening fight scene, is expository dialogue.

The best thing in the issue is a two page scene with Abe seeing these frog monsters take their human mother down into the bog. It’s the only time Byrne and Mignola take the time to do anything neat. The rest of the issue is all necessary just to get the story told.

It’s far beyond the regular supervillain revealing his evil plan scene. Byrne and Mignola turn it into an issue. I kept wondering where the cliffhanger would be.

Questionably—but impressively—dense.