Since the first free thought, humans have pondered: what is the meaning of life?

Mankind has played with this question so much, they have even brought the premise onto the big screen. One of these tales happens to be one that everyone knows called “Frankenstein.”

Recently movie makers have tried to resurface the marvelous monster movie from the depths and breathe new life into it. This past November, 20th Century Fox brought forth their interpretation of the story and titled it “Victor Frankenstein” to bring back the old monster movies to combat the big money making hero films. The real question though, is did their efforts pay off?

With other film companies taking the idea of Frankenstein and tossing it in the mud, such as the film “I, Frankenstein,” the director of “Victor Frankenstein,” Paul McGuigan, thought of an interesting new way to narrate the tale.

“Victor Frankenstein” begins with a nameless Hunchback (Daniel Radcliffe) working in the circus as a clown and also training to be a doctor. Most people say that a circus is a family, but this was utterly untrue as the circus folk beat and berate the poor Hunchback. In walks a rather educated man who sees that the Hunchback’s skills are being wasted in the circus and breaks him free.

When the Hunchback and the man escape, they quickly make their way back to the man’s home where the viewer learns that he is indeed Victor Frankenstein (James McAvoy) who later tells the Hunchback that he is not a freak of nature, but just is an ill man that needs to be fixed. After helping the Hunchback and giving him the name of Igor, Frankenstein begins his experiments that test the bounds of humanity with the help of his new assistant.

The strong acting of Radcliffe and McAvoy is a very refreshing strong point of this film’s success. Radcliffe represents humanity and the innocence of trying to help better his fellow man. On the opposite side of the scale is McAvoy who really does not like the company of others and finds them rather boring. Both have the same goal but different reasons to reach it.

It was really interesting to see a character like Igor, who started with nothing and was hated by everyone, could still love people and care for them. Whereas Victor grew up in a rich home with many things only to hate the world and feels like it does not respect him, thus his urge to show the world something it has never seen.

As the story continues to unfold you get to see more of why Victor is the way he is, which gives him a more human side and he begins to see Igor’s point, while Igor slowly begins to understand Victor’s views until Victor crosses a line that the Hunchback cannot.

While most of the other performances in this film are forgettable, it is worth it to see two great actors on the screen working together.

This dark love letter to the old Silver screen baddies is in no way a film that will be nominated for Oscars or even a film that people will be talking about for weeks to come.

With that said, in my own opinion, it was a great adventure that is worth your time. So if you truly want to feel alive, “Victor Frankenstein” will most definitely give you a jolt of excitement.