How movies like I, Frankenstein continue to get made is something that baffles me. They all have this cheap fantasy element to them and none of it comes off as particularly original, but rather and mixed bag of references to better, more established material and archetypes taken from other genres of film and applied to these age old stories and myths that hopefully turn out to be something truly original, yet the majority of the time are nothing more than half-baked ideas set into typical action film beats where our hero must save the world from some unknown threat he helped create or unleashed from his realm, world, galaxy, story...you get the picture. A movie like this is below Aaron Eckhart who, after The Dark Knight, I believed would have a prolific career that would produce several good films and performances, but his mix of direct-to-video movies combined with big action fare that has been more or less forgettable has made him that exact thing. This kind of role and film seems destined for the $5 bin at Wal-Mart and along the lines of every Underworld, Resident Evil, or Priest and Legion that studios decide to release in the doldrums of September or the early months of the year (in this case, January). I'm slightly engaged by the trailer only because the visual element at least seems to be going for something and as this is director Stuart Beattie's first major film there might be some real inventiveness and energy here that the whole vibe I'm getting from the film is covering up. We'll just have to wait and see as I, Frankenstein opens January 24, 2014 and also stars Bill Nighy, Yvonne Strahovski, Miranda Otto and Jai Courtney.
Synopsis: 200 years after his shocking creation, Dr. Frankenstein’s creature, Adam, still walks the earth. But when he finds himself in the middle of a war over the fate of humanity, Adam discovers he holds the key that could destroy humankind. From the co-writer of the hit supernatural saga, UNDERWORLD, comes the action thriller I, FRANKENSTEIN, written for the screen and directed by Stuart Beattie, screen story by Kevin Grevioux and Stuart Beattie, based on the Darkstorm Studios graphic novel “I, Frankenstein” created by Kevin Grevioux. The story is brought to life by a cast that includes Aaron Eckhart, Bill Nighy, Yvonne Strahovski, Miranda Otto, Jai Courtney, and Aden Young as Victor Frankenstein.
No comments:
Post a Comment