The best thing, worst thing, and main thing about the new movie “I, Frankstein”, spoiler free, and in about the time it takes to watch the trailer. Don’t forget to take a shot at the Best Ever Challenge in the comments!
REVIEW TEXT
You know sometimes in January the best you can hope for is not as bad as I thought it was going to be.
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“I Frankenstein” is the latest monster movie to try and pick up an old baddie and take him for a new spin. Based on a graphic novel, the movie follows Frankenstein’s monster as he intercedes in a battle between Gargoyles and demons that centers around his unique mode of creation. Aaron Eckhart steps in to play the stitched up reanimated corpse, who apparently has traded a block head and neck bolts for a chiseled jaw and a stylish haircut, making him look like he would be more at home on the cover of GQ than in a dingy basement lab. Now, to be fair I really wasn’t expecting much at all from this movie, and for the most part it delivered on those low expectations.
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Not to say there wasn’t anything worth lauding here. I thought the effects were good and made for some pretty impressive demon disintegrations amongst some well done fight choreography. And it’s hard to dismiss yet another wonderful performance by Bill Nighy, who beautifully underplays the kind of scenery chewing villain that might overwhelm less talented actors. Yet, my favorite thing? I actually enjoyed the gimmick of this universe. Conceptually, this world of a Gargoyle army protecting humanity from demons kinda worked for me. I loved the way you could sense the length and depth of this war and the rules that went along with it. In fact, the only thing I didn’t like about the story was the inclusion of one Frankenstein’s monster.
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And that’s a pretty big deal when it’s the name of your movie. Even if everything else around him could have worked, he didn’t. Everything about him just seemed wrong to me. The agility and fighting skills, the updated looks (really, we need a heart throb Frankenstein?), and especially the intelligence. Frankenstein cannot be smart! This is not ok, I mean, have you not seen Phil Hartman play him on SNL? Seriously though, it undercuts the whole meaning of a monster whose entire persona is based on brute clumsy strength when you write him with smarts and cunning. I found myself in this weird place where I was wishing the movie could have just existed without it’s title character. At least then it could have been one of those movies like Blade that you enjoy for what it is, instead of a wannabe blockbuster franchise launcher. Not to mention a decision made towards the end by one of the main players feels so completely out of character and without proper motivation that it steals any power the finish of the film might have had anyway.
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All in all, I Frankenstein has a few pieces stitched around it that might have worked ok if it wasn’t centered around a piece that doesn’t work at all. I, Your Movie Friend give it a C-
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Thanks for checking out this Your Movie Friend review, stay tuned for this review’s “Best Ever” challenge here in bit but first, I’m going to put up some stuff you can click over in this area. If you’d like to subscribe, which I would much appreciate, you can do so by clicking the big gray subscribe button. Want to see more? You can click here to see Reviews for Ride Along, The Nut Job, or Jack Ryan Shadow Recruit. You can also Click the logo up here to go to yourmoviefriend.com where you can search by title for reviews. And finally this review’s “Best Ever” Challenge, where you name the best movie ever in a particular category and also try to identify my choice. This time I want you to name “the best movie with the name of a monster in it’s title ever”. Mine is a remake that came 72 years after the original and featured the biggest size difference in a love interest ever. Drop your own answer and a guess at mine in the comments and first person to guess mine gets a point! Thanks and don’t forget to subscribe!