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DIRECTOR

Stuart Beattie

WRITER

Stuart Beattie

CAST

Aaron Eckhart

Bill Nighy

Yvonne Strahovski

Jai Courtney

Miranda Otto

I, FRANKENSTEIN

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Based on Kevin Grevioux's digital graphic novel, I, Frankenstein is a sci-fi fantasy film from 2014 about Frankenstein's Monster getting dragged into a war between gargoyles and demons. The film was critically panned and failed to make much of a profit at the box-office.

Aaron Eckhart stars as Adam, Frankenstein's Monster, in a movie that, unsurprisingly, aimed for potential Underworld crossovers down the line. This is very much the same kind of movie with its modern-day action take on classic horror monsters, CGI creatures, comic-book style visuals and rock soundtrack. I, Frankenstein, being released over 10 years after the first Underworld and other similar movies (Van Helsing, LXG) were a big thing, unfortunately feels old hat as it, almost proudly, decides to bring nothing new to the table.

 

The plot sees gargoyles, who were created by an archangel, rescue Frankenstein's Monster/Adam from a demon attack then try to hire his help in this war between good and evil. Adam grabs a couple of weapons, declines the offer and walks away in typical reluctant anti-hero fashion. Cut to a mere 200 years later and the war continues but now a demon prince called Naberius (Bill Nighy) is plotting to revive human corpses using Frankenstein's secret in order to possess them with an army of demons.

It doesn't get much more ludicrous than this here plot, of course, and the writing is about as slight, clichéd and predictable as it gets. There's nothing tongue-in-cheek about this movie, however, as everyone from Aaron Eckhart to Jai Courtney and Bill Nighy takes their roles seriously, with barely any humor present in the entire film. That said, there is something enjoyably cozy about a straight-up B movie like this one, which is as earnest as possible and acts like it's the first of its kind. Its lack of self-awareness is arguably more entertaining than the action sequences themselves with actors saying the silliest lines with a straight face. One scene even makes sure to emphasize the Frankenstein Monster's six-pack, which is exactly what Mary Shelley had in mind, I'm sure.

There's frankly not much else to say about I, Frankenstein: this is a CGI-heavy, quite ridiculous and not very good gothic action flick with enough amusingly dated tropes, bad dialog and straight-up nonsense to keep you entertained but if you're looking for a somewhat decent and recent enough Frankenstein movie, I'd opt for Victor Frankenstein instead.

Every bit as goofy as it sounds.

film & game reviews, the retro way.

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