Guillermo del Toro Says ‘Frankenstein' Marks the End of an Era: “I Feel Like I Need A Change"

Guillermo del Toro has “Frankenstein” that’s about to be unleashed in theaters next month. The reviews have been fine (81% RT), but I would lower your expectations if I were you.

You can see all the signatures of del Toro’s cinema in “Frankenstein”—especially the lavish sets—but you can also feel the Netflix influence. Much like his other recent films, it’s a big, expensive movie that somehow manages to feel less invigorating than, say, “Pan’s Labyrinth” or “The Devil’s Backbone,” which cost a fraction and were far better films. With del Toro these days, at least, size is everything, and depth gets lost in the grandeur.

Now, as he finally brings his long-cherished passion project to life, del Toro seems to sense the close of a particular chapter in his career. He’s telling Empire Magazine that Frankenstein is the end of an era for him, and I couldn’t be happier about this development.

This movie closes the cycle. If you look at the lineage, from “Cronos” to “The Devil’s Backbone,” to “Pan’s Labyrinth” to “Crimson Peak” to this, this is an evolution of a certain type of aesthetic, and a certain type of rhythm, and a certain type of empathy. I feel like I need a change […] You never know, the day after tomorrow, I may want to do Jekyll & Hyde, or whatever. But right now, my desire is to try and do something very different.

So, in other words, del Toro’s evolution may have finally reached its peak. Things got way too big, and now he’s scaling back, justifiably so, into less operatic, fantasy-filled worlds.

So, what is he tackling next? Signs are pointing towards “Fury,” starring Oscar Isaac, a “violent thriller” that del Toro has compared to “My Dinner with Andre,” but with killing after each course.” Del Toro is also prepping a stop-motion adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s “The Buried Giant.” First announced two years ago, the project will be distributed by Netflix.

Of course, del Toro deciding to scale back things a bit means that some of his other dream projects might not happen. “The one that’s on the bucket list that I think is gonna stay there is [“At The Mountains Of Madness”],” he tells Empire Magazine. “It’s too big, too crazy, too R-rated, I guess. And to be completely candid, I don’t know that I want to do it after “Frankenstein.”

You can say whatever you want about del Toro, but despite my mixed take on “Frankenstein,” I’ve liked many of his films over the years, and he’s a very strong, visually driven filmmaker. It’s just time for him to revert away from the CGI gloss and bring back the personal, hand-made touch to his filmmaking.