This was going to be under a hard microscope for me as Frankenstein's Monster is my favorite literary character, yet more than the Hulk, so the expectations were high, however had faith in Del Toro, as his take on the Creature from the Black Lagoon was pretty solid except for the dance bit in the middle. The same could be said for this one if you replace the dance routine with CGI wolves that look like they came from a Lord of the Rings Video game.. It was odd because otherwise the film was emotionally stunning and pulled on all the right heartstrings. I admit by trepidation, going into it was mroe of the Netflix connection. Would they throw in diverse casting just for the sake of it? Nope, did not happen, stayed true to the setting. The costumes might have gone over the top at times, but they had flair.
The acting was great, everybody did well, and I believed everyone. It, of course, stuck closer to the book, though here comes the catch, as it took a few liberties, the end being a glaring one, but it had heart to it and proved the Doctor was really the monster. The Monster was almost more like Snow White as animals loved it, except for the wolves. The monster design owed more to Bernie Wrightson's designs, which was a good choice; the OG Boris Karloff monster will always be the GOAT. They did a good job with the Monster. I am glad he was super strong and not just a whiny baby. He learned the world was cruel and adapted to it.
If you are totally jsut about Universal Monsters and that is what you want, this is going to come closer to Hammer Horror. So I understand why people might not like some of the changes, but I am more invested in the book and accepted the fact that the book and the Karloff movie were different as a child, so it seemed cooler to be into the book, though I love the Karloff Frankenstein, sadly, this skill did not translate over into other things as I grew up But this movie was enjoyeable, and not just vapid eye candy but it drew you into the world he created,
