The Island of Dr. Moreau . Tucson Weekly . 09-05-96

The Island of Dr. Moreau

DIRECTED BY: John Frankenheimer

REVIEWED: 09-05-96

Though this movie misses every opportunity to be good, it still manages to be quite entertaining due to great acting and the magical world of special effects. Marlon Brando stars as Dr. Moreau, H.G. Well's latter-day version of Dr. Frankenstein, a mere man tampering with the life God gave us on a remote island and creating...monsters! Dog monsters, cat monsters and hyena monsters. When will we ever learn? Brando is so great, and his costumes are so bizarre and magnificent, that he alone is worth the price of admission. Val Kilmer is also very good as the Doctor's petulant, fuck-it-all assistant, and nobody can cringe as well as David Thewlis. The filmmakers scrupulously avoid any "unnecessary" character development, and the whole man-beast-science theme is left totally untended--making this flick ultimately seem unfinished and pointless. But the beast-men are very cool.

--Stacey Richter

Other Films by John Frankenheimer
Ronin
Seconds

Film Vault Suggested Links
Cindy Crawford--Shape Your Body Workout
The Mummy
Blade

Rate this Film
If you don't want to vote on a film yet, and would like to know how others voted, leave the rating selection as "Vote Here" and then click the Cast Vote button.