I, Frankenstein review

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.