Not awful, not great

I like that Branagh basically made the book into a movie, with one or two changes. It's got the Gothic element which is great and to be honest most of the casting is great. I think Ken, Helena, Tom, Ian and the supporting actors are good. My main issue is with Robert De Niro. Let's make this clear, I love De Niro when he's on form with things like Godfather 2, Taxi Driver, King of Comedy, Goodfellas and Heat. Those things he rocks in, but this was just a bit too... It seemed odd to have this guy in the role of the beast. As Baron Frankenstein, sure! As granfather or the John Cleese role, certainly. But the monster? No, it was too strange that the film sort of buckled under De Niro. He did the best he could but in the end it should have been someone either
1. More thespian
2. Less known.

Still I also kind of respect Branagh and Coppola, even if Francis Ford Coppola hates Branagh for this movie and thinks it sucks, I think it's good. The one dud casting error doesn't destroy the film. Unlike Dracula where everyone is great bar Keanu and the film begins to sink when we don't have the likes of Gary Oldman, Tom Waits and Anthony Hopkins on screen.

I still think there's room for one more stab at a real Frankenstein but this isn't awful, just not great.