I, Frankenstein (Movie Review)

Review by Paeter Frandsen

With producer credits shared between the Underworld movies and "I, Frankenstein," I came to the theater hoping that I could end up with a movie I enjoyed as much as the Underworld movies. Then again, the fourth Underworld was a stinker, so there was certainly potential for this movie to fall short as well.

"I, Frankenstein" picks up the Monster's story right after the events of the classic tale. Believing he is free now that his creator is dead, the Monster is surprised to learn that he is now being hunted by demons in hopes of being used to advance their secret agenda. He is intercepted and protected by gargoyle warriors, who were created by the Archangel Michael to combat demonic forces in the invisible war to rule the earth.

The Monster now finds himself in the middle of this war. He is desired by the demons for unknown reasons and has the rare ability to kill gargoyles due to his lack of a soul. Soon, even the gargoyles display self-serving qualities, leaving the Monster without any true allies. The Monster must decide what side to take, or if he should take one at all, as he fights for his own survival.

Let's cut to the chase, shall we? I spent more time providing that synopsis than I ever want to spend thinking about this movie again. It wasn't terrible, but I can think of many far better ways to kill 90 minutes.

Casting was done pretty well. Aaron Eckhart is tall but also blocky in his build, playing the role of hero and monster with appropriate grim determination. Bill Nighy is a solid if obvious choice to play "prince of the demons." And the remaining supporting cast are all fine.

The special effects and the visual style in general were interesting. The movie delivers on the promise of the trailer in this department. If all you're interested in is cool, dark, supernatural fantasy visuals, you probably won't be disappointed, but once again the CGI creatures look a lot like CGI creatures, and even the cool swirls of flame and light accompanying the death of these fantastical creatures quickly becomes old.

The biggest problem here is the script, which doesn't give the time or reasons needed to invest in our hero. It also fails to establish what is at stake should the demons be victorious. Sure, it tells us the usual bits about the human race being wiped out and the world being destroyed, but this information is delivered in such a tired-out way that doesn't truly give a sense of weight to that potential outcome. All the elements that should make us care (the Monster's lonely search for purpose, the monumental consequences should the demons succeed in their plan) are told in expositional dialogue and lacking in dramatic impact.

It wasn’t until the end credits that I learned that the movie is based on a comic book, but that doesn't surprise me. Not because I think comics lack dramatic depth; I'm a huge comic fan and have seen much depth of characters and story in that medium. However, this movie feels a lot like what Hollywood typically seems to think a comic book movie is supposed to be like. Action and effects, overstated unrealistic dialogue, and lots of "cool" CGI that avoids raising the bar at all cost.

There are a few points of dialogue that may stimulate some thought on the nature of God and the human soul. The Monster is said to have been actually "created" by Frankenstein. The gargoyles feel they need to hide this fact, since it means that God is not the only one who can create man. Of course, this whole idea is a bit weird to me. First, the film itself repeatedly affirms that the Monster is not human. Also, Dr. Frankenstein started out with corpses when he made the Monster. So he didn't really "create" him in the sense that God creates life at all. Additionally, the Monster is said to have been made "outside the grace of God." This also seems odd, since "grace" simply means "undeserved favor." Unless The Monster was created from literally nothing, though, he was not even stitched together "outside the undeserved favor of God." I think this is just another example of popular fiction using the trappings and vocabulary of Christianity without really understanding them. Of course, they can do this without complaint because we as Christians often don't understand these ideas, either.

In general, the film leans on worn-out themes of religious hypocrisy ("Oooh, these guys who say they follow God aren't really nice like they should be!") and hints at a version of God who is not uniquely powerful and is possibly even insecure. As a result, the hero remains largely neutral in the conflict, not desiring to side with the forces of evil ('cuz, y'know, he's basically a good person), but not wanting to side with the gargoyles either (because everyone knows religious folk are all a bunch of hypocrites).

I want to be clear in saying that I don't accuse anyone involved in making this film of being "anti-Christian" or "anti-anything," but I do think this story, probably without meaning to, presents a snapshot of the position many Americans take regarding spiritual matters. They believe that they are "spiritual" (just as the Monster discovers his own spiritual nature by the end of the story), but they prefer to walk their own path and not ally themselves with any spiritual authority higher than their own conscience.

Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense fantasy action and violence throughout.

Quality: 7.0/10

Relevance: 8.0/10