The Bride! – Style Over Substance In Need Of Being Reigned In

Frankenstein, a character synonymous with pop culture for over 200 years, has graced print and screens, both big and small, ever since. Appearing in countless literary works and even more film and television adaptations, oversaturation is a fair argument, especially following the release of Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Frankenstein‘ just last year. Author Mary Shelley’s 1818 original, ‘Frankenstein’ or ‘The Modern Prometheus,’ has plenty of ground still left to cover, the biggest being the notion of a bride or companion for Frankenstein’s monster, a character that never got to see the light of day. That being said, she would eventually be brought to life some 100+ years later, first with the 1935 film ‘Bride of Frankenstein,’ a sequel to 1931’s ‘Frankenstein.’ In that film, the bride, played by Elsa Lanchester, has the distinction of only appearing for roughly 3 to 5 minutes at the end of the movie, while also having no dialogue. However, actor-writer-director Maggie Gyllenhaal looks to bring the character to the forefront with The Bride!, a remake of the 1935 film with a feminist twist. Starring one of the hottest actors working today in Jessie Buckley, she once again makes the titular role her own and the best thing it has going. Unfortunately, for a film that has so much to say, it could never quite decide the kind of film it wanted to be. A mess lacking a point, Buckley and Christian Bale as Frankenstein are fun to watch together but overall, it doesn’t amount to much.

The Bride! is facilitated by Shelley (Buckley) herself, operating from the afterlife, to tell the story she wanted to tell but couldn’t due to her death. To do so, she possesses a rambunctious woman named Ida (Buckley) living in 1936 Chicago. In her trance, blurting out the workings of Lupino (Zlatko Buric), a local crime boss, made her an instant target that was quickly dispatched by his minions. Meanwhile, Frankenstein (Bale), otherwise known as ‘Frank’ in this story, set out for Chicago in search for scientist Dr. Cornelia Euphronius (Annette Bening) in the hopes that she could create him a companion and cure his century of loneliness. Stumbling on to Ida’s corpse, the two successfully bring her back to life, albeit without her memories. Taking advantage of the situation, he managed to convince Ida that she was his bride and that she had lost her memory because of an accident. From then on, Frank and Ida went about the rest of their lives, but it would be far from happily ever after as the pair quickly found themselves as fugitives from the law.

Leaving a growing body count in their wake, Ida remained undeterred, committed to a life on the run with Frank. Absolutely enamored with classic Hollywood star Ronnie Reed (Jake Gyllenhaal), he and Ida embarked on a roadshow of sorts, following Reed around the country. Making the trek east, from Chicago to New York City, Detective Jake Wiles (Sarsgaard) and his assistant Myrna Malloy (Penélope Cruz) were hot on their trail. Setting up a sort of playful dynamic between the two, each clearly had their own motivations for their investigation. Leaving plenty of unpack on the table, a few fun exchanges aside, there was not that much else to them. Other than to break up the Frank and Ida scenes, they served little purpose and would have little impact on the proceedings. Seemingly satisfied with coasting on what is already known about its two main characters, the film makes little effort in developing them beyond what is known. While there are no stakes in sight, it also finds itself moving in multiple directions and trying to say so much, succeeding at very little and only muddying that message. Not sure of the kind of film it wanted to be, it shows, often to a frustrating degree.

The longer Frank and Ida remained free, the more chaos they created as their crime spree became front page news. The latter, specifically, would go on to spawn an empowerment movement, inspiring women to look and dress like Ida. In the end, it would only be a matter of time until she and Frank’s spree came to an end. As she was having the time of her life while on the run, morally speaking, Frank and Ida were not exactly on the same page. Continuing on with her out of some warped sense of love and the relief of finally having the companion he desperately sought for over 100 years, something had to give and the truth would eventually come out. Essentially, the truth proved to be the universal downfall of the characters. Forgiving Frank for his actions, it was only a matter of time until Ida’s past caught up to her. Despite her uncanny ability to survive, the climax would put that to the test as she tried to salvage what she had left. Faced with death, once again, Ida forgave Frank for having lied to her and did not want to lose him. Playing fast and loose with the concept of life and death, when their story appeared to be over as the walls came closing in, that door could never fully be closed. When it comes to where it all goes from here, the answer to that question remains to be seen.

Lacking in substance, The Bride! makes up for in style. On a technical level, it does a decent job at putting audiences in mid-1930s America through its costume and production design. While not completely period accurate, some liberties are taken in adapting the story for film, gloomy and gothic imagery dominate the screen but it is never boring to look at. Operating on edge throughout, the film is over-the-top and bold as it consistently runs at 100% and right in audiences’ faces. Additionally, the score does plenty of lifting in terms of imparting the film with scope and wonder. However, what truly keeps the film afloat is its daring lead performances, especially a scene-stealing Buckley as the titular bride. Embracing the film’s bold and over-the-top tone, she brings boatloads of energy to a role that the film fails to fully harness. Buckley is an absolute firecracker but her potential is buried under such a muddled narrative. On the other hand, her chemistry with Bale’s Frank was another highlight. Bale leans on the human side of Frankenstein in his performance, presenting an interesting path for the character, the film, however, relegates him to a straight man to balance out the zany Ida. Instead of putting them in a series of outrageous situations, slowing down and allowing the characters to develop would have been the better call.

The Bride! may not be the colossal failure it has been made out to be, but it serves as yet another case of style over substance lacking a clear direction that would have been better served reigned in.

still courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.