I, FRANKENSTEIN:
IMPRESSIVE VISUAL
EFFECTS AND 3D CANNOT OVERSHADOW ITS UNORIGINAL PLOT!
By Nico Beland
Movie Review: ** out of 4
LIONSGATE
Aaron
Eckhart in a war between gargoyles and demons in I, Frankenstein
The creators of the popular Underworld franchise have attempted to
bring the graphic novel, I, Frankenstein
to life in the film adaptation of the same name. And while the film looks good
in the visual department, it’s not very good of a movie on its own.
What I mean by that is the concept
is fantastic; Frankenstein in a futuristic human world, but its actual premise
is too identical to Underworld. Like
the two-hundred-year war between gargoyles and demons, it’s very similar to the
vampire and Lycan war from the Underworld
movies.
Many years ago, scientist, Victor
Frankenstein has created his greatest creation ever, a monster known as Adam
(Aaron Eckhart-The Dark Knight, Thank You For Smoking), but suddenly
rejects it, so in an act of revenge the creature murders Victor’s wife and flees.
Adam continues to live in a present human world where vigilant gargoyles and
menacing demons battle each other for ultimate power.
Soon he finds himself caught in the
middle of the war as both groups race to find the secret to Adam’s immortality
in a montage of action sequences and special effects, I thought I paid to see a
3D movie, not a light show.
Overall I praise the film’s visuals,
3D scenes, set designs, and concept, and honestly while the acting is mediocre
and often bland, I don’t find Aaron Eckhart to be that bad. You can tell he’s
trying his best and even though it didn’t pay off in the end, I have to give
him credit for his attempt to bring Frankenstein to life.
If they were to throw out the Underworld-like plot and did something
fresh and new with the story, it probably would have been considered a decent
action fantasy flick. It’s a shame because I saw aspects of a good movie in
here, I wouldn’t mind seeing a movie about Frankenstein trying to live a life
in the modern or future human world, but they had to throw in a war between
gargoyles and demons, which doesn’t have much to do with the Frankenstein
legend.
The 3D is passable, though I
wouldn’t say it was as impressive as the 3D used in Avatar, Gravity, or The Avengers, but it didn’t seem like a
cheap conversion. I could tell the 3D was present during the film.
If you were watching the movie on
its own without the 3D, you’re probably not going to get much out of it.
However you may get some enjoyment out of a 3D showing of the film, not enough
to consider it much of an improvement.
The writing is still laughable, the
acting is poor, and the story lacks in originality, the 3D, special effects,
and the concept are the only elements that stand out in this movie.
So if you’re curious and want to see
some impressive 3D action, maybe give it a watch, but I think it would be wiser
if you just watched the original Frankenstein
or at least Frankenweenie.