Studio: Focus Features
Director: Zelda Williams
Writer: Diablo Cody
Producer: Mason Novick, Diablo Cody
Stars: Kathryn Newton, Cole Sprouse, Liza Soberano, Henry Eikenberry, Joe Chrest, Carla Gugino
Review Score:
Summary:
An introverted teenager develops a shocking new personality after a reanimated corpse unexpectedly upends her suburban life.
Review:
Classmates at Brookview High School see Lisa Swallows as an oddball outcast. Overlooked and underestimated, Lisa retreated further into a shell after her mom's brutal murder moved her into a new home with an overbearing stepmother and cheerleading stepsister. Now Lisa often passes idle time either pining for the handsome editor of her school's literary magazine, or wondering about the unknown young man buried at the cemetery where she goes to be unbothered while making wax rubbings of weathered tombstones.
Lisa would rather romance the crush that's alive, yet she has to settle for the dead one when ominous green lighting strikes the cemetery, somehow resurrecting the mysterious mister as a grotesque mute. The creature takes some getting used to, considering he can't communicate with words and his tears smell worse than "a hot toilet at a carnival." Nevertheless, the unlikely couple appears meant for each other, since he can help Lisa take charge of her life, and she can help him acquire the body parts he needs to be whole again.
Except when Lisa emerges from the cocoon the monster inspires her to make, she isn't exactly a butterfly. She's more of a throw-caution-to-the-wind type who conflates a growing desire for vindictive vengeance with confidence. The creature is going to get those body parts, and Lisa is going to undergo a total transformation alright. It's just going to cause chaos all over town as the two of them leave a trail of hacked-up corpses to finally get what they want.
To borrow an overused yet simplistically accurate description, "Lisa Frankenstein" can be considered a "hit or miss" movie in terms of its horror as well as its comedy. Since the main theme ostensibly involves a teen girl's identity crisis, I'll mention that I haven't seen the inside of a high school since the 1990s, and I'm not the gender this film means to speak to most, either. Where anyone falls with such factors will undoubtedly determine the amounts of laughter and meaning to be found. Although if anyone wants my girlfriend's opinion, she described "Lisa Frankenstein" as "cute," and didn't have much more than that to say, which sort of speaks to the film's likelihood of drawing middling reactions no matter what.
Starting with some slightly confused characterizations, part of the movie's own identity crisis has to do with "Lisa Frankenstein" not developing a clear personality it can stick with for the full 95 minutes. The movie cleverly flips a few stereotypes on their heads, with the standout example being Liza Soberano as Lisa's popular stepsister Taffy. Cinematic stepsiblings almost always include "wicked" in front of their title. But instead of being the bubblegum-chewing, inconsiderate gossip girl one might think she would be, in actuality, Taffy consistently looks out for Lisa. Lisa even acknowledges that she expected Taffy to be "the type of person who usually bullies me or looks right through me," but became the only person who cared about Lisa when no one else did.
The second side to this coin though, is that Taffy comes across as more likable than Lisa, and that's a problem for a protagonist. Lisa starts out as sympathetic, what with the way she's ostracized for her interests in classic monster movies, alt rock, and goth fashion. Then when she starts growing more assertive, she frankly becomes a bit of an assh*le. It doesn't seem like this would be a sensible arc given what we now about her. So it's strange that "Lisa Frankenstein" gives her questionable motivations for committing murder. And it's hard to root for a downtrodden phoenix's rise when Lisa's acts of revenge read as self-serving and cruel.
Another bubble in the bloodstream messing with the movie's pulse involves pacing best described as "off." Diablo Cody's script seems sharp enough, save for occasional groaners about Sports Illustrated promotional phones or a recurring gag with a personal massager that never penetrates to the funny bone. But the exchanges of quips don't have the right rhythm, like every edit needs an additional half-second shaved off so rapid-fire words hit the humor where, and when, they are supposed to. Ennui should be reserved for typical teenage angst. A comedic film shouldn't exhibit that kind of listless behavior, too.
Not helping anything is a surprisingly shabby look for the production. A majority of the movie takes place in tiny rooms probably fabricated on a soundstage and lit like a soap opera if "Days of Our Lives" used bright pastel colors. These collective creative choices establish a cramped atmosphere better suited for a TV movie than a theatrical release.
Because my quibbles with "Lisa Frankenstein" boil down to delivery of the dialogue rather than the dialogue itself, as well as wonky performances from accomplished actors like Carla Gugino, who can usually do no wrong yet plays her part on a different frequency than everyone else here, I have to surmise that the movie's issues stem from direction. As much as I wanted to see Zelda Williams slam it out of the park on her feature debut, she only taps a squibber through the infield with this swing. Or, to put it into a Frankenstein metaphor instead, "Lisa Frankenstein" could use a generous jolt of entertaining electricity to give the movie more life.
Review Score: 55
At least the movie only runs 70 minutes, though I suppose that extra 10 technically disqualifies it from being a literal amateur hour.