The Bride!: A New Take on a Horror Classic That Never Comes Together (4K)

The Film:

James Whale's 1935 classic "The Bride of Frankenstein" is considered by many to be one of the very best horror sequels in cinematic history. In fact, there are those that would even place it above Whale's original "Frankenstein" from 1931, so to attempt to do anything new with the material is already seen somewhat as treading on sacred ground. After Universal's plans for a "Dark Universe" of the classic monsters, which included a new retelling of the story, fell through, it seemed as though the material was safe, but now writer/director Maggie Gyllenhaal has stepped forward to try her hand at it with "The Bride!". While it may act more as a reimagining of the tale instead of a straight remake, it remains a rather daring feat to try and tackle such beloved material. Could Gyllenhaal's take possibly offer something new to it to make the entire endeavor worthwhile?

Starting in 1936 Chicago, we meet Ida (Jessie Buckley), who becomes possessed by author Mary Shelley while at a club and starts to talk loudly about the criminal activities of local crime boss Lupino (Zlatko Burić). When a couple of his men take her outside, she accidentally falls down a flight of stairs and dies. Meanwhile, we also meet Frank (aka Frankenstein's monster) (Christian Bale), who has arrived in Chicago to see Dr. Euphronius (Annette Bening) about making him a companion. She eventually agrees, leading them to obtain Ida's corpse and bring her back to life.

The process causes her to lose her memory, but Frank comes up with the plausible backstory of her having had an accident and that they're married. The two try to go about their lives, going to see a movie and attending a club, but after they are harassed by two men who try to assault Ida, Frank kills them both, forcing them to go on the run. With Detective Jake Wiles (Peter Saarsgard) and his assistant Myrna Malloy (Penélope Cruz) on their trail, their new relationship is immediately put to the test.

As mentioned, "The Bride!" is more a reimagining of the original classic than a regular remake or retelling, with Gyllenhaal taking inspiration from the story, but very much doing her own thing with the material. For her own take on the tale, she has opted to give us a strange amalgamation of "The Bride of Frankenstein" and "Bonnie and Clyde," which sadly presents us with one of the film's biggest issues, that being that this particular combination doesn't work all that well for these characters.

With this being the basic foundation, we quickly find them getting stuck in a rut, running from place to place, and getting in more trouble as they go about trying to get away. Unfortunately this severely limits the number of directions that the story and/or characters can go, giving it a very repetitive structure, and concluding in the exact way the audience knows it has to given the aforementioned inspiration. It's not that a different spin on the classic couldn't work, but it seems as though Gyllenhaal didn't really think this one through, leading to a film in which she basically threw a bunch of ingredients into a pot and hoped something would brew from it. However, several of these elements (including Ida being possessed by Shelley, strange/clunky dialogue, and random dance sequences) just don't mesh together into anything compelling or particularly cohesive.

At this point, one would like to say that the talented ensemble ends up being one of the film's saving graces, but at least as far as its two leads go, Jessie Buckley (who very recently won an Oscar for her brilliant performance in "Hamnet") is sadly more annoying than captivating, while Christian Bale just sort of grunts his way through the film. That said, they can't really be blamed for this as the screenplay they're given to work with is simply a bit of a mess, one that, again, wants to put a different twist on the concept of Frankenstein's Monster & his bride, but which never gives these two anything interesting or exciting to do.

In the end, "The Bride!" simply can't overcome its flawed concept & mishmash of peculiar elements. It's clear what Gyllenhaal was going for, but she should've realized that proceeding down such an obvious path would present the problem of giving her film a distinct lack of originality, ultimately resulting in a different take on a beloved classic that doesn't have very much to offer.

Video/Audio:

"The Bride!" comes to 4K in a 2.39:1, 2160p Ultra High Definition transfer of marvelous quality. The picture is beautifully sharp throughout the entire 126-minute duration, perfectly highlighting the film's incredible production design, costumes, and makeup. Likewise, the Dolby Atmos-TrueHD audio track is fantastic, giving you all of the dialogue, sound effects, and music in excellent quality. Overall, Warner Bros. has done an outstanding job in both areas for the film's 4K debut

Special Features:

Stitching Together The Bride! (8 Minutes): A look behind the scenes of the film, featuring interviews with writer/director Maggie Gyllenhaal & the cast.

Designing the Look (9 Minutes): A featurette that delves into the designs of the main characters.

The Muse and the Reimagined Monster (8 Minutes): A featurette that explores the film's new take on Frankenstein's Monster & The Bride.

The Bride Party (6 Minutes): A featurette that focuses on the film's ensemble.

Conclusion:

Maggie Gyllenhaal's "The Bride!" attempts to present a different take on the horror classic "The Bride of Frankenstein," one that tries to merge the original concept with a plot heavily inspired by "Bonnie and Clyde," but which sadly falters quite a bit due to its remarkably messy screenplay that struggles to incorporate several odd elements that simply don't mesh together, ultimately making for a reimagining that has very little to offer.

Score: 2.5/5

Available on 4K starting tomorrow.

Follow me on Twitter @BeckFilmCritic.