brilliant actors, brilliant editing

Boring, long, and too preachy.

I gave this film a 9 out of 10, because it was exactly what I expected it to be.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

first for each performance from the lead roles, especially for Brendan Fraser. than, for the force of story. not the least, for splendid job of Lynn Redgrave. a film who use biographic details for a subtle reflection about great universal themes. the flash backs, the dialogues, the details and the precise portrait of humanity are the great virtues of a magnificent trip in essence of fears, illusions, expectations , shadows of the past. to escape from yourself - that is the axis of a film who gives few interesting answers to the old problem of meaning of life. a film about importance of truth. and about role of a meeting. about different forms of confession and legacy. delicate and powerful. poetic in bitter form. and, so, convincing. a director, an old lady and a young gardener.crumbs of past. as bricks from a strange bridge between past and present.

The story is just a common in biographies, yet it's a boring one. It feels right in explaining the focus character's mood in the film. Yet the drama feels very boring because the scenes consists mainly of dialog of two roles, most of them in sitting position. Though there's a lot of effort in showing emotion play, there's only little else done on it besides the dialog and the facial expressions. All the little flashbacks feel a little non-congruent due to their short duration. Ian McKellen is surely at home with this character. Yet he did quite a nice job in portraying the gloom and despair of James Whale. Frasier as a young talent is a good balance in this movie considering McKellen's age. McKellen's age was not really covered well on the flashbacks, considering the lower advances in technology at the time of this movie.

The last days of Frankenstein director James Whale (Ian McKellen) are explored.The focus on homosexuality is perhaps what earned this film an Oscar, but it seems a bit forced. I have understood elsewhere that Whale was not someone who made his sexuality the issue, although here he seems to have it front and center. Is it fair to put him in a story where he seduces awkward and annoying young men? Why is this the plot? I really could have wanted any actor except Jack Plotnick. A dorky journalist who only wants to know about horror films is bad enough, but then to make him so ridiculous? How would such a person ever have even gotten to Whale's gate? Brendan Fraser does a surprisingly good job here. Not known for his acting chops, I am a bit surprised that he was cast. But he does alright.

The plot summary for Gods and Monsters states that it follows the last days of horror director James Whale, but it shouldn't be thought of as a biopic; it manages to avoid almost every pitfall suffered by most movies of that genre, except for one - predictability. The film is very predictable every step of the way, even if you know absolutely nothing about Whale's life or death, you can tell very early on exactly how it's going to end. It doesn't matter, though, because Gods and Monsters isn't about the story; it's an art-house piece and a character study, an exploration of a complex personality and, above all, a remarkably beautiful film.Like any biographical film, Gods and Monsters relies heavily on one powerful lead actor; Ian McKellen gives one of the best performances of his career as James Whale, with whom he clearly felt a certain bond. McKellen puts his whole into the film and creates real sympathy for Whale. Fantastic as he is, though, it's not a one man show; gorgeous editing that manages to organically combine flashbacks with loving references to Whale's own early films, creates a strong sense of atmosphere that Whale himself would have been proud of. Gods and Monsters is a natural companion piece to Ed Wood and Shadow of the Vampire, but it's by far the most brooding, subtle, thought-provoking one of the trio. As for supporting cast - Lynn Redgrave is fantastic in a small but memorable part as Whale's maid; Brendan Fraser, on the other hand, plays a very generic character, mostly there as an avatar for the viewer, and though his performance is decent, it's not by any means impressive, and he gets a little too much screen time, taking the film down just a notch from masterpiece status.