Kenneth Branagh's version of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Question:
How true to the vision of Mary Shelley do you feel Kenneth Branagh's movie is?

Answer:
Kenneth Branagh did take some obvious artistic liberties with the story, but in my opinion this did not alter the actual message Shelley gave in her book. For the most part, I think the only thing Branagh did was change Shelley's words into pictures and shorten, eliminate, or slightly alter scenes that would have made the movie too long. By having Waldman introduce Victor to the concept of creating a living being, Branagh got rid of the long drawn out explanation of how Victor got interested in the subject. Portraying Walton and Victor as having similar physical features he helps the audience come to the conclusion that they have similar personalities. Another small change worth mentioning is Frankenstein's creature is not showed slowly gaining the courage to speak with the elder cottager.

However, there were a couple of changes the did have a large effect on the story. For one, in Shelley's book Victor adamantly opposed the creation of a second creature. In Branagh's movie though, after the creature killed Elizabeth, Victor tried to bring her back the same way he brought the first creature to life. This change gives the impression of Victor being far more fanatical than in the book. Another large change was at the end, when Walton pleaded with the creature to come back from the frozen north with them. This overrides Shelly's theme that physical appearance can completely determine how society views you. By having Walton show some sort of sympathy with the creature, he's saying that society can and may eventually change how it decides an individual is regarded.