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Laramie Movie Scope:
I, Frankenstein

Frankenstein's monster, the romantic superhero

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by Robert Roten, Film Critic
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February 9, 2015 -- The idea of making Frankenstein's monster into a romantic superhero is original, at least in movies. It isn't an original idea because the screenplay for this movie is based on a graphic novel by Kevin Grevioux. I haven't read it, or even heard of it prior to the movie, so it was all new to me.

I went to see this at the theater, in 3D, and later picked up the blu-ray disk of the movie, which, like the film “Dredd” and a few others, has both the 2D and 3D versions of the film on one disk, the only way they are sold. Most 3D films are sold as a kind of boxed set with a separate 3D disk included, which is more expensive. I have a 3D projection system as part of my home theater, and I collect 3D movies.

The film opened about a year ago, right during my busiest time of year, awards season, so I didn't write a review when I first saw it, but I've seen it several times since then, so I know it pretty well. I decided to do a review while compiling my 2014 year in review article, which made me realize that I liked a film which landed on a lot of “worst films of 2014” lists.

I was surprised to find this movie on so many lists of the worst films of 2014. I found it entertaining. It is a fairly typical sword and sorcery action film. It was a box office flop in America, but it did well overseas, making nearly three-fourths of it $71 million gross overseas. Given the economics of show business, it probably lost money, but then great films sometimes lose money too, and sometimes bad movies make lots of money.

Aaron Eckhart (“The Dark Knight”) stars as Frankenstein's monster. He is in the process of burying his creator, Victor Frankenstein, in a churchyard when he is attacked by demons and rescued from them by gargoyles, who are on the side of god. Somehow or other, the monster fails to notice that Victor Frankenstein was carrying a big ass book around with him that explains how he created the monster, but the gargoyles find it in on the body in the grave and hide it in their church.

The gargoyle queen Leonore (Miranda Otto of “War of the Worlds”) has a talk with the monster and decides he's not such a bad fellow despite the fact that he is a murderer. Well, he had a good reason for killing Mrs. Frankenstein. Leonore decides to let him go. He wanders the earth, like Kwai Chang Caine, but without his own TV series.

Some two centuries roll by and the monster decides it is time to rejoin the world of men. Once again, the demons come after him and once again, he is confronted by the gargoyles, who have no sense of humor at all, and they are at war with the demons. They also have no idea what to do with the monster, Frankenstein's book, or with the growing power of the demons, led by the demon prince Naberius (played by Bill Nighy of “About Time”).

The gargoyles are godly, but not smart. They cannot figure out Naberius' evil scheme, which has to do with raising the dead. The monster, who is smarter than your average monster, not only figures it all out by himself, but foils the plot all by himself, despite the demons and the gargoyles both trying to kill him. Not only that, but he finds a hot girlfriend at the same time.

O.K. so it's dumb, but I liked it anyway. It has some good fight scenes and special effects. The 3D effects are pretty good and Aaron Eckhart kicks some serious ass in this film. He is not an uninteresting character. It's not everyone's cup of tea, but I'd rather watch this than some of those ennui-soaked “art” films with stationary camera shots where nothing happens for long periods of time. This one rates a C+.

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in digital formats, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

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Copyright © 2015 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.
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Robert Roten can be reached via e-mail at my last name at lariat dot org. [Mailer button: image of letter and envelope]

(If you e-mail me with a question about this or any other movie or review, please mention the name of the movie you are asking the question about, otherwise I may have no way of knowing which film you are referring to)