Frankenstein (2025) | REVIEW

Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein in Guillermo Del Toro’s FRANKENSTEIN — PHOTO: NETFLIX (Still image from the trailers).

Directed by Guillermo Del Toro — Screenplay by Guillermo Del Toro.

There are literally hundreds of films either directly based on or partially inspired by Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, so the story of Victor Frankenstein (and his creature, or monster, that is often wrongly referred to as just ‘Frankenstein’) is one that audiences of most ages know quite well either through having seen films based on the story or through references in pop culture that, with stories as familiar as this one, tend to fasten in your audiovisual language through a process of cultural osmosis. One auteur, however, hopes that his passion project can add something new to the storied legacy of the character, and now Netflix has given that opportunity to that auteur. I am, of course, referring to Guillermo Del Toro, the Oscar-winning filmmaker with a known love for classic monsters, creature effects, and both horror, fairy tale, and gothic storytelling. It should be a match made in heaven, and, frankly, I do think the wait for Del Toro’s take on Frankenstein, his 13th feature film as a director, was worth the wait. 

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REVIEW: All Quiet On The Western Front (2022)

Felix Kammerer as ‘Paul Bäumer’ in IM WESTEN NICHTS NEUES — PHOTO: Netflix.

Directed by Edward Berger — Screenplay by Ian Stokell, Lesley Paterson, and Edward Berger.

Can a war film ever truly be anti-war? A lot has been said on the topic over the years, with François Truffaut often being attributed to the quote that “there is no such thing as an anti-war film,” and Steven Spielberg reportedly disagreeing completely in an interview with Newsweek in which he stated that “every war movie, good or bad, is an anti-war movie.” With respect, I think both of their black-and-white absolute statements miss the mark. Certainly, there are war films that aren’t explicitly anti-war in case they showcase heroism or glorify the act of fighting for one’s country. Some would definitely argue that Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan fell prey to some of these war movie pitfalls. On the other hand, I also think the Truffaut quote is a strange generalization. Actually, with All Quiet on the Western Front (2022), I think Edward Berger has done an excellent job of recreating the hell of World War One in a way that knocks you out, shakes you up, and sends waves through you.

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