I was a mad frustrated penguin. But then, at last, I spotted an available showing at a theater quite a bit of ways from us, more towards where my sister and her husband live.
I was totally willing to travel to great lengths to go see it, but my dad was hesitant.
The only theater we've been to (in years, at least) is our's, so on top of going so far away, he didn't really feel comfortable with going to a foreign theater. ;P
But nah, bro, that didn't keep us away for long.
We were off the next day and arrived at the theater. (not a bad looking theater, if I do say so myself. It had a really nice set up and a neat little gaming area, plus a restaurant of sorts with actual food you can eat.)
I wasn't a crazy fan of the previews. A couple of horror films, along with Pride *cough* Prejudice *cough* Zombies.......yeah. And then a movie with Leo Caprio and meh boy Tom Hardy.
Anndddd Deadpool. -_-
Yeah. I would've honestly preferred to see the trailer for Suicide Squad, cuz that would've been a hundred percent more entertaining to watch than what they laid out for me. I'm aware they were trying to go with a more dark selection of films to show given the plot of the movie we were watching, but seriously...
But yeah, so, skipping back to the movie.
1. The Wardrobe and Scenery
Oh my gosh, I'm not for these types of things and to get on about graphics or anything, but everything about the movie was visually and creatively beautiful! Even the monsters.
The clothing they chose for everyone was so pretty and Victorian, and the props they used were astounding.
Everything was so steampunk, I loved it. XDDD
I seriously want Frankenstein's laboratory, just saying.
But no, they did a really good job with that set up. I'm proud of their attention to the details surrounding the characters and their environment.
2. The Casting and CharactersWhat's probably even prettier than the scenery is the actors. You've got James McAvoy-- who's looks I was rather smitten with in Penelope-- that was incredibly hard not to look at with his handsome ruggedness and extra quirky charismatic self. Facial hair was a good call this time around, James. ;)
Not attracted to Daniel, but he did a really job in this. I haven't seen him in anything (not in the HP fandom) but this, so this was the first time I got to see him act and he's not bad!
He gave a lot of good depth to the character of Igor.
But I think everyone did a great job in this, so the casting couldn't be more perfect.
There was lots of humor and sassiness on Victor's part. :P
Let's not forget the conveniently placed Molly Hooper (the one horrified with Victor), Mycroft Holmes (the one standing beside Finnegan, with the super cool steampunk goggles) and not to mention meh baby Moriarty, I mean ahahahaha, let's not even start with that, yeah.
(the internet is mean and won't let me have pictures of Molly and Mycroft, so here is Moriarty)BUT NO, the creators basically had a "let's put a few Sherlock cast members and see what happens" thing going for them and it worked out, beautifully.
The girl who played Lorelei was so darn sweet and innocent in her portrayal. What I loved about her character is that she isn't the typical female love interest that would be so horrified (under the film's circumstances) that she would treat (Igor) horribly and act like a snob and toss all their history aside to ruin him or avoid him and treat him like an absolute jerk..no. There was none of that nonsense. No drama.
She didn't agree with what was going on, but she generally loved Igor and didn't want to see him get treated badly again, and she supported him in all the ways she could. She showed actual compassion and understanding to what was going on. It was a nice change of pace from what we normally see in these types of characters. There was no threatening or uncomfortable arguing-- she expressed her concern, but she was there when Igor needed her. And I loved that. :) Their relationship was so sweet. ♥
Also, Finnegan, YOU. >8/
(you're apparently not allowed to see Finnegan, my apologies)The bro friendship between Victor and Igor was awesomely done.
While others naturally have been "shipping" the two, because apparently no two guys or girls can be friends anymore, I saw the aspect of their friendship in an entirely different way.
To me, Victor saw Igor as his brother. As a replacement, almost. He was clearly alone and needed someone to share things with, whether it be a sibling or a friend...and he recognized that he and Igor were kindred spirits and they worked so well together. So in a way, Igor fulfilled the void that Victor had had for so long, not having a brother. Yes, he was his assistant, and did treat him badly on occasion, but he eventually wound up seeing Igor as more than that and as a general friend. Whatever negative bits that occurred was simply a side effect of Victor's obsession. There was so much of Victor's life following his brother's death that was simply due to him trying to atone himself and "bring back the balance". So they gave the traditional story a rather emotional and heart-breaking twist. He wasn't just obsessed with the idea of bringing people back to life; he wanted to take it upon himself to rid the world the pain of losing someone, as he had lost his brother.
Clearly, it was too late to bring him back, after all those years.
But between Igor and his creation, that was as close as he could get to having him around again.
As for Moriarty (I refuse to call him anything else), his storyline was heart-breaking in it's own right.
As my father commented, it seemed that everyone in this story had some sort of brush with death or lost someone to it, which gave everyone an emotional attachment to the work Vincent was trying to do.
I loved his character's general intellect, though. And personal mission to stop Victor and Igor, at any cost.
I thought the religious aspect of his character, too, was an interesting element to add. Since religion and science are polar opposites, it was almost crucial they placed it within the story, and the way it was handled was rather clever. Andrew's character, a man of law who's natural duty was to stop Victor's illegal activities, was on the side of religion and morals. While Victor was a man of science and taking matters into his own hands, and was so consumed by his goal, he didn't care what laws he broke or who's life he ruined.
So their portrayal of Andrew's character wasn't offensive to me in the least. He wasn't a villain, either.
The two had differing opinions and walks in life, and the film leads you to believe that maybe both is right or both is wrong, or one of them is right and the other is wrong...you don't really know, do you?
And that's the whole point. He did his job as a policeman, he wanted to see his wife again and believed he would do so in heaven, once he died...and he eventually dies..so beyond that is a mystery that only he would know about. As for Victor, he failed in his experiments, clearly, but that did not stop him from trying again and again and again. It's almost like an addiction. To him, he would never be finished, even if it took him all his life and would never get even close to succeeding. He was the type that would just not be told
no.
I also wanna point out that the incredible Charles Dance has a brief appearance, in which he portrays Victor's father. Who in himself was a great big jerk. hmph.
(....and no Charles Dance for you, either..)
3. Music and The CreatureThe music surprisingly wasn't all that noticeable..not that that's a bad thing, at all.
It blended well with the scenes to where you really don't think about it being there.
But it was good for the timeline of the story, so thumbs up for that!
As for the Creature, I wasn't disappointed at all. I also liked how they didn't overplay his screen time. He was around for the right amount, and had a good bit of action and carnage drawn from him.
And how they made him look was perfect! Clearly wasn't sporting the look Mary had originally chosen for the character, but it was good, nonetheless. Whoever did the makeup and design for him rocks, because wow. O.O
He was spooky and powerful, much like how the Creature is supposed to be.
And let's not forget about poor Gordon. Poor, poor Gordon. :( I felt so sorry for that little guy.
But they did a terrific job on his look, too. Wow. Just wow.
I especially liked how they got some spooks and the whole idea of the monsters down, but they weren't all overly bloody and gory and ewwwww, and disturbing. It was set right and actually rather tame compared to what they could've done.
As I've mentioned to many, the movie's feel reminds me a lot of Guy Richie's
Sherlock films.
So, yeah. I could probably go on with more, but I'm just not. XD
Now for the parental advisory...
Language: 4/10There's a few h's and d's said mostly by Victor, and if it counts, he also refers to the female anatomy and how babies are developed in a conversation with two women (one of them being Molly) over dinner, but a lot of it is played for comedic effect. It's important to note he wasn't really being flirty and sexual towards them, he was simply being blunt and direct about things, since he's not really used to being around people and having to use proper manners. And then towards the end, Igor utters the s word. It's clear that he's said it, but it's more of an under-the-breath, we're-in-deep-trouble type of tone, rather than screaming it aloud for all to hear.
Sexual Content: 3/10As I said above, Victor is having a conversation with two women about the female anatomy and how babies develop, but again, it's not really him being weird in that area, just him going off and spouting out things he knows like an arrogant goof, so it's comedic. And the whole time, they're horrified about what they're hearing and are clearly uncomfortable. So it's a laughable few minutes.
Igor and Lorelei develop a relationship with eachother, and at one point, after dancing at a ball, they run upstairs and shut themselves inside a room. And then a few moments later are seen kissing and on the floor, but we don't see anything past that. So all in all, besides those two parts, the film was pretty tame in that factor. I might also note that when Lorelei is describing the man she's appearing as a mistress for, she implies that he's a closeted homo. But it's not all too direct, due to the times, as it was considered more of a hush-hush thing.
So it's only a few seconds and the part doesn't press it.
Frightening Scenes/Gore: 7/10Although I said they were rather tame in this, I wouldn't advise letting your young kids watch it.
The creature scenes CAN get scary and intense. They weren't overly gory, but human parts are seen (I mean, c'mon..) and Victor puts the creatures together (off screen, as far as I can remember) with said parts, so it can get gross and a tiny bit bloody, but nothing too over the top. I still wouldn't advise anyone under maybe 10 or 12 watching it.
Gordon was a bit creepy, no matter how much I loved him. And the Creature was more on the spooky, menacing side, than super scary, mostly because he lacked any real facial emotion other than anger.
Also, it had a decent amount of action to it. One man gets accidentally shot by another, Moriarty's hand gets crushed by accident and he has to replace it with a seemingly wooden one, as well as his eye getting a bit messed up, and of course, the Creature does a lot of carnage and tosses random guys around, as well as smack aside Andrew, killing him. Finnegan falls to his death and is seen laying on the ground, motionless. Lorelei, a former acrobat, falls by accident and breaks (I believe) a collar bone, but that is quickly fixed by Vincent and Igor, without there being too much of a fuss.
Igor is also taken by Finnegan, tied up, and thrown into the ocean to drown, so it would be a little unsettling to watch him struggle underwater, but he does eventually get out safely.
They have to kill Gordon (again) after he proves to be too dangerous, and all we see is Victor hitting at it a few times, and that's it. And then for the Creature, they have to run through both it's hearts in order to stop him, so you'll see a couple of poles sticking through it.
Alcohol/Smoking: 4/10
There is drinking, social and otherwise. Victor and Igor practically finish the Creature's design drunk and act a little goofy. As for smoking, I can't clearly remember anyone doing so, but I'm sure there was. Just wasn't really in a 'in your face, I'm smoking' kind've way.
Overall movie scale: 8/10Annnddd that's all I really got. :)
I seriously loved this movie and don't at all (more like never) agree with the critics' stupid opinions about this. Go see it for yourself, if it's still available to you! I'm so getting it when it comes out. ♥
