I broke my promise of not watching any more new movies and watched the new version of Frankenstein. I must say it’s visually stunning. The sets are beautiful, and you can see Del Toro's hand behind every prop and background. There are a few amazing special effects, including the early prototype abominations Frankenstein makes before building his final monster.

However, story wise it's a mess. The plot swings between soap opera and superhero modes. The creature looks like something out of Marvel, complete with superpowers. And the rest of the characters are all cartoony, with motivations that make no sense. Characters switch from loving to hating each other and back for no reason other than the plot needing it right there.

The main point of the story is changed from a cautionary tale about playing god into a dysfunctional family drama. Victor Frankenstein was abused by his father, so now he is abusive to his creation. Del Toro said he did that to give the story some Latin American flavor, but I think he dropped too much telenovela into it. Did Frankenstein really need a love triangle?

There are so many plot holes that the script seems to have been made by stitching together parts from many dead drafts.

When Victor and Elizabeth meet for the first time, she seems to dislike him for no reason and gives him an unprovoked anti-war speech. There is a later scene where he is involved in the war, but that hasn’t happened yet at this point, so she has no reason to associate him with war. It makes me wonder if those scenes were originally meant to be in a different order. Sloppy editing or sloppy writing?

After that, their relationship shifts to attraction, then back to rejection, with no logical transition.

Another plot hole: there is a character who pays for the equipment and provides the body parts. It’s later revealed he has a terminal disease and wants a new life in the monster’s body. But this is only revealed at the last moment. When the body is already finished and about to be revived, he demands “Put me in that body.” How did he think that was going to work? Was Victor supposed to improvise a brain transplant procedure in the few minutes they had before the storm hit? It makes absolutely no sense.

The creature is supposed to be the good guy. He is sentient and capable of articulate speech, but for some reason he reverts to a roaring, murderous monster and kills a bunch of innocent sailors just to justify a violent fight scene.

As in the novel, it ends with Victor Frankenstein hunting the creature across many miles. The problem is that in this version the creature wants to die and is chasing Victor, begging him to end his life. So who is chasing who here? They both want to meet each other, so why is there a chase at all? How do two people who want the same thing end up somehow chasing each other all the way to the North Pole? It’s really confusing.

I still recommend watching it for the beautiful cinematography and strange imagery. The sets are gorgeous, especially the laboratory where the monster is created. Just don’t expect the story to make much sense.