I, Frankenstein

For those who think film criticism is easy, try coming up with more than one snide paragraph to write about I, Frankenstein, starring Aaron Eckhart as the immortal monster caught in an eternal war between demons and gargoyles. Sure, it’s easy to pick on the bad casting (Eckhart, dude, what were you thinking?), derivative storyline (be honest and call it Underworld 5, already!) and the just a hair better than SyFy Channel digital effects. But now what?

Well, one might courageously admit that – in a fan fiction sort of way – the movie is actually enjoyable. The monster mash scenario could have been piped in from the imagination of any Comic-Con attendee with an ambitious Kickstarter plan. It shouldn’t work…and mostly doesn’t. But the energy expended to pull off such a misguided idea is intriguing all the same.

A quick prologue informs us that Frankenstein’s creation survived through the centuries, despised by mankind and hunted by a pack of demons that want to study his body to learn the secret of creating life. The monster is protected (sort of) by a rival race of angelic gargoyles that rename him Adam and try to prevent him falling into the wrong hands.

It’s not as complicated as it sounds. Mostly the film just revolves around Eckhart stomping around in a leather hoodie with a scowl on his face. His attraction to a female electrophysicist sets up the possibility of some unintentional necrophilia, but sidesteps that icky subject in favor of a more spiritual character arc. Does this pissed off collection body parts actually have a soul? Only his hairdresser knows for sure.

Produced by the same team that trots out a new Underworld movie every couple of years, there’s a good amount of production value on the screen. And they even convince Bill Nighy put on another melodramatically evil performance. However, none of the actors come close to the appeal of Kate Beckinsale in leather tights. Jai Courtney (A Good Day to Die Hard) seems the most comfortable amongst all the sturm und drang, realizing that most of the PG-13 crowd is just there to watch flying gargoyles beat the hell out of the demon horde.

Lionsgate’s blu-ray is almost too good-looking. On home video the effects work shows more than a few digital seams, but it’s a brilliantly booming hi-def experience if that’s what you’re looking for. Extras include two audio commentaries, one from writer/director Stuart Beattie (the screenwriter behind another graphic novel to screen translation, 30 Days of Night) and another from the producing team plus a pair of featurettes.