For many people 1935’s Bride of Frankenstein was the highpoint of the Universal Monsters series of films that ran into the late 1940’s. Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride! takes inspiration, but little more than that, from James Whale’s classic chiller and stars Jessie Buckley in the title role. It is set in 1930s Chicago, when Frankenstein’s monster (Christian Bale) asks Dr. Euphronius (Annette Bening) to create a companion for him. Together, they give life to a murdered woman, Ida, who becomes known as “The Bride”.
I was very disappointed with Guillermo del Toro’s conventional take on Mary Shelley’s famous story last year, but this is anything but that. It is a riotous mess of a movie, with Gyllenhaal throwing everything at the screen and seeing what sticks. A surprising amount is successful, from the wild society of the time period to the monster’s infatuation with Jake Gyllenhaal’s movie star and even the couple of song and dance moments. One of them is a knowing take on Putting on the Ritz, an obvious nod to Young Frankenstein and there is even Monster Mash playing over the end credits.
Not everything works though. A subplot about a gangster feels tacked on, despite it filling in Ida’s backstory, and the plot runs out of steam before the end. Also, the female empowerment angle is heavy handed, especially when Ida exclaims “me too” twice.
There have been unfavourable comparisons of Buckley’s performance with her Hamnet role. But, I enjoyed how big, how audacious it is, particularly when she is channelling Shelley. Bale seems to be trying to sound like Boris Karloff and is outshone by his co star. Peter Sarsgaard is good as a detective hunting the pair but Penelope Cruz is miscast as his partner.
Not everything works in this ambitious film, but Gyllenhaal has taken a big swing and I appreciated that.
Rating: 7 out of 10