httpss://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pxZxY_Siyc
Shelley didn’t give Victor Frankenstein a lab lackey, though plenty of filmmakers have.
Victor, in turn, is played with a lot of physical dash and a crazed smile by James McAvoy, who all but hurls himself into the fray.
He and Mr. Radcliffe make a fine pair of scoundrel-heroes, particularly after Victor rescues Igor from the circus and performs an amusingly revolting operation featuring a siphon and bucket of pus before shooing him off for a shower and a shave.
Igor cleans up nicely and then, with a back brace, straightens out agreeably, becoming Victor’s well-coiffed match.
Handily, Igor also turns out to be a genius of a kind, an expert draftsman and amateur sawbones who’s eager to help Victor with some of his dodgier scientific experiments.
Thin as a halfpenny, “Victor Frankenstein” has nothing to offer on science and the mysteries of creation, but it does reaffirm the grip that Shelley’s story retains on the imagination, no matter how far afield it’s taken.
“Victor Frankenstein” promises new directions and other movies, mostly by recasting a story about gods and monsters into a buddy movie.
It’s vaguely cute, even if, despite the floating eyes and other attractions, the detective who tries to ruin Victor’s party can’t help turning your thoughts from Shelley to Doyle.