Review: A monster discovers what it means to be human

Laurianna Cull

The first film based on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein was released in 1910 and since then there have been countless appearances of Frankenstein’s monster in movies, television, books, cartoons and comics.

The most recent appearance is the new film “I, Frankenstein” which is based off of a small comic book series.

“I, Frankenstein” certainly has a new and refreshing outlook on the 200-year old monster. Rather than incorporating vampires and werewolves into the film as many movies have before it, one of the more recent being “Van Helsing,” “I, Frankenstein” pitted gargoyles against demons in a war to save humanity.

Nearly 200 years after his creation, Frankenstein’s monster, Adam, played by Aaron Eckhart (“The Dark Knight”) has rejoined society to hunt the demons that once hunted him only to find out that he may be the key ingredient to their victory.

Although “I, Frankenstein” probably will not have strong box office success, there were several appealing aspects of the film.

The strong suits of the movie were definitely the monster makeup, the CGI gargoyle transformation and the fight sequences between Adam and the demons.

The fight sequences were probably the best aspect of the film due to Adam’s use of a unique martial arts technique called kali stick fighting rather than the typical blade or crossbow, which is commonly used in this genre.

Although Eckhart must have spent a lot of time in training for the fight sequences, it seems he should have spent some of that time better studying his character role as Frankenstein’s monster.

His acting and narration was cheesy in areas, which in all fairness was partially due to the unimpressive script. It was very obvious that the story sacrificed quality and character consistency in order to simply advance the plot.

One shining example of this was the gargoyle queen, Leonore, played by Miranda Otto (“The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers”) who played a strong leader the entire film. She is the leader of the spiritual warriors who kick demon butt at every turn. Yet the only time she encounters a demon in the film, she suddenly becomes a damsel in distress who does not attempt to fight back.

Screenwriter, Kevin Grevioux (“Underworld”) who also plays Dekar in the film should strongly consider sticking with acting.

Overall the film is cheesy and predictable, however the lack of other monsters such as vampires and werewolves helps drive home the solitary characteristics of Adam and the fact that he is the only monster and ungodly creation on the Earth.

By making those choices, the film makes the audience ask themselves what it truly means to be human.