Victor Frankenstein 2015

Kyle Smith, New York Post: It essentially repeats, with a few uninteresting new details, all the same stuff we've seen in the other 457 Frankenstein movies. Read more

Andrew Barker, Variety: This skewed take on Mary Shelley's classic never shows enough sparks of life to justify reanimating its nearly 200-year-old source. Read more

Mike D'Angelo, AV Club: The first words spoken in Victor Frankenstein are "You know the story," and anyone who simply mutters "Yep," gets up, and heads back to the box office for a refund will be well ahead of the game. Read more

Barbara VanDenburgh, Arizona Republic: These changes, rather than inject new life in a story told innumerable times, underscore what it is that works so well in other, better iterations. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: "Victor Frankenstein" goes uphill ... for a bit before plummeting downhill fast. Read more

Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader: McAvoy's performance is good for a few laughs, but the doctor never seems capable of sustaining a serious thought, let alone creating life. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: Even though there are some very good bits floating about, it gets to be too much of a crazy thing. Read more

Kyle Anderson, Entertainment Weekly: Only Radcliffe escapes unscathed, lending Igor a convincing psychology despite the ham-fistedness of the material. But he's not enough of a reason to resurrect this story again. Read more

Sheri Linden, Hollywood Reporter: Whether you call it a hybrid, an origin story, a prequel, spinoff or "regeneration," the stitched-together monster mashup that is Victor Frankenstein is in one sense a perfect specimen: It exemplifies the more-is-less school of moviemaking. Read more

Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times: For much of the movie's running time, I wished I were watching Mel Brooks' classic take on Shelley's yarn, "Young Frankenstein." At least that one was intentionally funny. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: Although the mad doctor (played by James McAvoy) gets title billing, the star this time is his faithful assistant Igor (Daniel Radcliffe), a circus sideshow freak whose hump turns out to have been a really big zit (no, seriously). Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: It's got terrific set design, and some striking performances. But like the creature seen all-too-briefly at the end, it's a rough thing of patches and pieces, crudely stitched together. Read more

Mark Jenkins, NPR: The latest resurrection of Mary Shelley's horror classic has a tech-era vibe that adds to its modest appeal. Read more

Allen Salkin, New York Daily News: This un-terrifying film tries to find an interesting twist on the classic Frankenstein tale, but horrifically fails. Read more

Manohla Dargis, New York Times: 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. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: A kind of mad coming-of-age yarn embellished with lightning bolts and monsters made of cadaverous flesh. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: To avoid the accusation that it's an unnecessary remake of an oft-told story, screenwriter Max Landis has reduced Mary Shelly's cautionary tale to a bad comic book, bereft of soul and intelligence. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: Go watch "Young Frankenstein" again, rather than venturing out to this one on a stormy night. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: A bleak, tedious enterprise, shot in earth tones and Gothic gray and blue. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Despite director Paul McGuigan's eccentric attempt to add a fresh vision to the story combining melodrama and black comedy, he has, in effect, written a chapter of "Mary Shelley for Dummies." Read more

Brad Wheeler, Globe and Mail: McGuigan's visually vivid Victor Frankenstein races to its lightning-storm finish, running over the solid (if not electrifying) acting of McAvoy and Radcliffe. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: Paul McGuigan directs, but apparently without a clue as to what kind of story he's trying to tell. Read more

Alonso Duralde, TheWrap: Feels as stitched together as one of the title character's monsters, flirting with horror, action, comedy and even romance but committing to nothing but loud messiness. Read more

Cath Clarke, Time Out: What in hell were the makers of this monstrosity thinking? Read more

Jen Chaney, Washington Post: As Radcliffe says from the beginning, we know this story. Since we already do, the longer this particular version of it continues, the more we wonder why we're bothering to sit through it. Read more