In The Bride!, a dead Mary Shelley yearns to create a sequel to Frankenstein, and so partially possesses and kills escort Ida. Shortly afterwards, Frankenstein’s creature/Frank arrives in Chicago looking to re-animate a corpse and make it his bride. He enlists the help of Dr. Cordelia Euphronious, and together they dig up a corpse which just so happens to be Ida, bringing her back to life. When Frank brutally murders two men who were attempting to rape Ida, both go on the run from the law. Along for the pursuit are a detective and his secretary, and mob underlings sent to silence Ida.
Jessie Buckley stars as Ida/Penelope/Penny/The Bride. Yes, Mary Shelley continues to partially possess her for the entirety of the film, leading to some painful and cringe outbursts as Ida waffles between two personalities. Buckley is the absolute worst, so much so that it makes you question her frontrunner status for Best Actress.
Christian Bale puts on a good performance as Frankenstein/Frank. He is essentially the creature from the classic novel. In The Bride!, he has developed a love for film and dancing. Movie theaters are featured prominently throughout, though there is no deeper meaning to their usage and nothing really comes from it. There are also several dance sequences in The Bride!, including one (bafflingly) set to ‘Puttin’ on the Ritz’ which involves possession, an ability Frank only acquires for this one scene and goes unexplained. Bale brings some gravitas and pathos to his portrayal of Frank and is one of the only bright spots in the movie.
Peter Sarsgaard plays Jake Wiles, a determined and well-meaning detective who knew Ida before she died. He’s another bright spot. He’s likable enough and his sub-plot is fine, though it goes nowhere in the end, he serves very little purpose, and is even carelessly discarded at the beginning of the third act. His friendship with his secretary played by Penelope Cruz is cute, though she proves to be every bit as useless as he is, if not more so, by the end.
Annette Bening plays Dr. Cordelia Euphronious, author of Event Horizon. Against her better judgement, she gets involved in the story of Frank and The Bride out of what appears to be a scientific curiosity. She isn’t given much to do, but makes an impression regardless.
The Bride! is written and directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal (the film even features Jake Gyllenhaal in a memorable supporting role). The screenplay is simply atrocious and bad. Gyllenhaal also fails to impress as director. It doesn’t take long at all for her to lose total control of her movie.
The Bride! is a wild, crazed sequel to Frankenstein with heavy Feminist overtones (the crimes of our duo inspires women all over the country to dress up like The Bride and commit similar crimes, another subplot that, once again, goes nowhere). The creativity on display is without boundaries, but this means there is also zero focus. This flick comes speeding at you and either you jump on board or are flattened like a pancake. It’s a hard one to keep up with.
The Bride! is overflowing with ideas (some interesting, some not-so-much), but every one of them falls flat and isn’t followed up on or explored. While you have to give credit for the insane creativity on display, The Bride! is a mess. It feels like Maggie Gyllenhaal’s take on Poor Things, a lesser take. The Bride! amounts to a gigantic, visually appealing/pretty, and very silly train wreck that wears out its welcome well before the end credits roll.
2 STARS
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