Sewing together a new monster from film and pieaces of an old classic.

Kenneth Branagh's Mary Shelley's Frankenstein dose not simply butcher the old tail which has influenced numerous bits of culture, but it reinvents it. All the changes and liberties it takes are not only designed to expand upon the plot but also as a reference to earlier works in cinema history.

The mediums of story telling themselves necessitates certain different focuses, after all it is very hard to spend much of a book dealing with scientific concepts that would seem dry on page, but which when portrayed in a cinema are visually grabbing and perhaps even exhilarating. The whole process of creating the monster which was skipped over in about a paragraph in the book was expansively and graphically shown in the movie.

Two of the biggest changes in the plot were the death of Victors mentor and the use of his brain in the experiment, as well as the reanimation of Elizabeth coupled with the creation of the second monster. The former can be seen as a bit of a throw back to the film legend Frankenstein where the monster's brain originally intended to be that of Dr. Frankensteins former teacher Dr. Waldman. The latter is a throw back mostly to The Bride of Frankenstein which actually did show the animation of a second monster which would become the bride of the monster had she not rejected him and the destruction of the laboratory and mansion followed. These throw backs to the classic interpretations of the great story not only help comfort those whom are accustom to only these visions, but allows Branagh the same opportunities that Shelley her self took advantage of during her writing with her constant reference to Paradise Lost and other great literature.

Additionally the combination of these and other liberties taken with the plot allow for a more passion filled and better understanding of the message being delivered of both tellings. where the book seemed dull and wooden the movie allowed for real connection with the characters and the emotions they felt. Where the book was unable to establish a truly fanatic tone the movie was able to create a feeling of intense urgency, regret, and foreboding. Where the book had to specifically state connections between character the movie could show and be more subtle.

This is one of the few movies in history that in this authors book will go down under the category of " Better than the book" because it is so much better at conveying to story and messages of a classic.