I, Frankenstein ~ Potential Squandered

The film, "I, Frankenstein" takes Mary Shelly's classic Gothic tale and rewrites the story to allow for a modern audience.  Adapted from the graphic novel of the same name, writer and director Stuart Beattie (one of the many writers on the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise) working with graphic novelist, and actor Kevin Grevioux to turn Frankenstein's monster and Aaron Eckhart ("Olympus Has Fallen," "Battle Los Angeles," "The Dark Knight") into a modern day action hero.  "I, Frankenstein" is a fantasy film with extravagant special effects, over the top action scenes, new symbols, and a mythology to ponder on.  Bill Nighy ("Underworld," "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," "Hot Fuzz") star along with Miranda Otto ("The Lord of the Rings" trilogy).  "I, Frankenstein" runs about an hour and a half and the MPAA rates it PG-13.

The first thing you will notice about "I Frankenstein" is the look and feel of this film.  If it invokes the spirit of the "Underworld" franchise, there is a good reason for that.  First, the screenplay is adapted from a story by Kevin Grevioux.  Grevioux and director Len Wiseman developed the "Underworld" franchise based on Kevin's original concept of genetic mutation rather than a supernatural reason for vampires and werewolves  

In 1795, the story goes...  Victor Frankenstein, the mad scientist who created a man from the remains of dead bodies, abhors and rebukes his creation and decides to destroy the creature by dropping it into the river.  This servers as a metaphor from the Bible referring to Noah's flood perhaps.  The creature returns and seeks vengeance upon its creator.  After the creature murders Victor's wife, the scientist hunts the creature into the Arctic where Victor succumbs to the elements.  Essentially,  Grevioux’s story diverges immediately after the creature is created.

As the creature returns Victor Frankenstein's body to his family estate, and while he is burying his creator in the shadow of the burnt out manor when a group of demons attack him.  The demons appear human at first, however, their underlying evil "burns" through their skin off and their true form shows.  The monster starts dispatching demons until he is outnumbered.  Enter the gargoyles.  You know – the stone grotesques that sit hunched atop church cathedrals?  Yes, those are the ones.  These creatures fly in and take out all but one of the demons.  When the gargoyles land, they turn into human form.  The two gargoyle rescuers, Ophir and Keziah take the creature back to the gargoyle stronghold.  The lair of the gargoyles is, of course, a magnificent cathedral with elaborate arched buttresses in the classic French Gothic style, sort of a Notre Dame de Paris on steroids.  Summoned before the Gargoyle Queen, Lenore--played stoically be Miranda Otto (she was Eowen from "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy).  A conflict arises between Lenore and the gargoyle commander, Gideon, played by Jai Courtney ("Jack Reacher," "A Good Day to Die Hard") as he believes it is better to kill the creature and destroy Frankenstein's journal on creating man.

Mary Shelly was 18 years-old when she created the characters of Frankenstein and the creature, failed to give the monster a name.  She did, however, in later interviews offer up the name of Adam.  Remember, the full title Shelly's Science Fiction, Gothic horror, romance novel was "Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus."  Even the name "Lenore" brings to mind Edgar Allen Poe's Gothic Romantic poem of a man as he sadly recalls the beautiful maiden who died way too young.  "I, Frankenstein" is steeped in mysticism and lore.  The Gargoyle Queen tells us that it was the Archangel Michael who created them to fight the demon hordes.  But, for some unexplained reason, or because this is how it appears to mankind -- God has forgotten about them and doesn't refill their ranks.  Instead, the gargoyles appeal to "Adam" to join them in their fight against evil.  The face of evil is Bill Nighy's character, Charles Wessex; head of a major scientific corporation, and just below the skin, the evil Prince Naberius, the Marquis of Hell.

I feel bad for Aaron Eckhart's character.  At this point, all he wants to do is go somewhere quiet, curl up near a warm fire, and read a good book.  In this case, it is Frankenstein's journal.  For Adam, the journal is as sacred for the Bible.  On one hand, “I, Frankenstein" presents a character whose desire to find out why he was created and for what purpose.  A lofty goal to be sure, however, Bettie's camera framing choices along with the pacing of the movement leaves little time for introspection by either Adam or the audience.  Lenore denies Adam the journal and has Gideon lock it up for safekeeping.  Reluctantly, Gideon obeys.  Before Adam departs, Lenore divulges the secret to killing demons -- they can be killed with sacred weapons.  So far, up to this time, most scenes have had subtle references to a triple cross.  This symbol is both holy and to demons, deadly.  As opposed to having a spiritual leader like a priest bless the weapons, all Adam has to do is engrave the image of the triple cross on any weapon.

Two hundred years goes by, Adam tells us.  In that time, he had stayed some place remote where neither demon nor gargoyle will find him.  Once again, we have supernatural creatures abandoned by their spiritual masters.  In (almost) all quests, the hero must be, not only be reluctant, but also must go through a training period.  Two hundred years of practicing should be enough.  Adam returns to the modern world, clean cut, appropriately dressed and ready to hunt demons.  In his first encounter in the modern world, he is stalking demons when a human cop interferes and is killed -- collateral damage.  Once again, the gargoyles intercede, haul Adam back before the Lenore for chastisement, and ultimately he is held captive to await sentencing by Lenore. 

Since Adam's disappearance, Naberius has been seeking the creature, created by man, now named Adam. Over the millennia, war between good and evil continues to the point that the souls of the soldiers of evil are waiting in hell for new, reanimated soulless bodies.  Victor Frankenstein's journal is the blueprint, and the Adam is the prototype.  Naberius/Wessex wants either the book or the body so that his eminent human scientist, the blonde, beautiful Terra Wade (Yvonne Strahovski -- "Chuck," "Killer Elite") can figure out how to "cure" death.  At least, that is what she thinks she is doing.  She is experimenting with both drugs and massive amounts of electricity to try to revive enormous white rats.  Working in Wessex's compound, her laboratory is all decked out in modern equipment, below in the depths of the building, one of Naberius’s minions is using Terra’s work to revive the many dead bodies that Naberius has been holding for the day that Terra will find the process to reanimate them.  Of course, Terra is fascinated with Adam, and she ends up being the damsel in distress whom needs saving.  This creates an awkward kind of relationship between the two.  Perhaps, they were going for a “Warm Bodies” kind of vibe.

The real question of this story is Adam capable of having a soul.  Does he have one now?  The concept of the soul goes back to ancient Greece.  Did Mary Shelly's creature have a soul?  He gave her creature many abilities that did not make into the 1930's film with Boris Karloff and Colin Clive.  Director James Whale's monster, was illiterate, inarticulate, and in some ways more primitive and childlike.  De Niro's version was, I think, closer in character of the novel.  Eckhart seems to be going for not only intelligence but adds a sense of philosophical wonder.  Unfortunately, Bettie doesn't have the time or the patience to explore those emotions.  Adam is us, mortal man who was reborn into a world were good and evil are a choice.  A being created from death, with no memory of an afterlife, a creator -- either human, or a supernatural god-like being willing to interact with his creations.  Humans, like Adam, make choices every day that have important existential impact that we just don't realize.  The irony of Frankenstein's creature is that he may eventually exist long enough, perhaps many centuries, allowing him/we to realize those far-reaching consequences.  In the end, like many of us, Adam is seeking to find himself.  He does, when a climactic moment in the film, he declares that he is I, Frankenstein.

Visual effects for the fight scenes between Eckhart and the demons are impressive, but somewhat formulaic at times.  The images of the grand cathedral are breathtaking and sublime.  The gargoyle effects while flying and morphing between human and winged creature are also stunning.  I enjoyed Reinhold Heil and Johnny Klimek’s musical score that I found sad at times and soaringly beautiful at others.  The great battles between good and evil, give not so subtle cues about how heaven and hell work.  The demons, whose souls are a hot red descend downward when dispatched (killed), while the gargoyle are a cold blue and ascend when their body dies.  For humans, there is nothing.

While there is plenty to complain about with "I Frankenstein," like the silliness of needing soulless bodies for a demon to inhabit, or that Kevin Grevioux is typecasting himself as the heaving second in command.  He plays Dekar, a role similar to the Raze character he played in "Underworld," and "Underworld: Rise of the Lycans."  On the other hand, there are some decent reasons to check this film out.  For example, Bill Nighy is always a joy to watch whether he plays a villain, or a good guy.  Beattie’s concept has potential, but he grounds them firmly in the world of graphic novels.  The visuals in many cases are stunning, but like Zack Snyder’s epic mess “Sucker Punch,” Bettie reaches for, or at least he teases us with some metaphysical concepts, for whatever reason, he decides not to dwell much on them.  In this case, it could leave one cold and confused.  For those who enjoy films in the same vein as "Underworld" and "Van Helsing," be prepared to add another anti-hero to the list.  However, if the vampire verses werewolf trilogy (I don't count "Underworld: Awakening") then perhaps this isn't your type of popcorn flick.

Movie Data

Genre: Action, Fantasy, Sci-Fi

Year:  2014

Staring: Aaron Eckhart, Yvonne Strahovski, Miranda Otto, Bill Nighy, Jai Courtney, Kevin Grevioux

Director: Stuart Beattie

Producer(s): Gary Lucchesi, Andrew Mason, Tom Rosenberg, Richard S. Wright

Writer: Stuart Beattie, Kevin Grevioux, Mary Shelley

Rating: PG-13

Running Time: 92 minutes

Release Date:  1/24/2014

Reviewing the War Epic - Battle: LA

"Retreat? Hell, We Just Got Here!"

If you take the best fast paced action packed war films of the last decade, put them together with an overtly overdone Sci-Fi element, utterly destroy Los Angeles, and you might come close to describing "Battle: LA." Aaron Eckhart ("The Core," "The Dark Knight") plays a cross between Clint Eastwood and John Wayne as the tough-as-nails Staff Sargent Nantz, who leads a young team of Marines into war. Also starring in "Battle: LA" is our favorite Latina Badass, Michelle Rodriguez ("Resident Evil," "Avatar"). Along for the ride is an interesting array of secondary cast of expendable 'red shirts' whose only goal in this movie was to make themselves known in a very short time and make that appearance memorable. Better than, "Skyline" (2010) , "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (2008) , and it is faster paced than Signs(2002) , not as philosophical as "Battlefield Earth" (2000) , no shrieking kids as in "War of the Worlds" (2005) , and not as detailed as "Independence Day" (1996), "Battle: LA" is action packed with just about the right amount of breathing room to allow you to catch your breath and collect your thoughts. Fun to watch and don't be surprised if you and the audience cheer at the end. "Battle: LA" runs about an hour and forty five minutes and is rated PG-13 for language and violence.

When we go to see films about alien invasions we know we need to suspend a certain amount of disbelief in order to get into the mood of the film. In "Battle: LA," Director Jonathan Liebesman ("Darkness Falls"), and writer Christopher Bertolini ("The General's Daughter") drops the audience into the midst of a battle scene that reminds one of "Band of Brothers," and the mood is set. Jumping back twenty four hours previous we get some background information on the phenomenon that is occurring, and an introduction to SSgt Nantz, Eckhart's tortured soldier character with a past, Realizing that his shelf life as a Marine is about to expire (mid-life crisis) and that his last tour in the Middle East was a fiasco (guilt factor), Nantz is ready to throw in the towel.

Apparently the Earth is succumbing to a barrage of meteors that unlike last year's "Skyline," we get a slightly larger, less limiting point of view of this invasion, a slight warning, and some possible insights as to why they are here. However, let me digress a bit. When any superior force conquers an inferior territory or people, they usually do so for the natural resources, or so that is what we have believed from our own experiences as conquerors. Old World's conquest of the New World was for gold, land, wood, spices, fuel sources, ("Avatar," "Independence Day, "Stargate"), or for some tactical advantage ("Star Trek: First Contact"). Looking back to film history, aliens have come to Earth to recreate their species ("Invasion of the Body Snatchers"), to feed on humans ("The Blob," "To Serve Man") or to utterly control and assimilate human-kind like the Borg from "Star Trek," or perhaps they are just plain lost like "E.T."-- it really doesn't matter why they are here. In "Battle: LA," the B.E.M.s (Bug Eyed Monsters), we are told by 'an expert,' who surmises that they must want our water, because Earth is mostly water. However, we really don't know why they are here. In "Independence Day," the audience is treated to a 'dialog' between an alien and the President of the United States, where we are told that like locust, they conquer, consume, and leave. Today, landing in the ocean around populated coastlines around the world, we are told Los Angeles is the last line of defense for the West Coast.

In the same style of James Cameron's "Aliens" (1986), Ridley Scott's "Black Hawk Down" (2001), and Paul Verhoeven,'s "Star Ship Troopers" (1997), Liebesman introduces us to the 5^th Marine Regiment, who are charged with evacuating Santa Monica. These gung-ho Marines fit every type of war casting stereotype you can remember. The regiment consists of the inexperienced Second Lieutenant (2^nd. LT), the young backwoods soldiers, the career Marine Sargent, the soldier with the key information about the mission --Technical Sargent Elena Santos played by -- you guessed it, Michelle Rodriguez (Resident Evil, Lost, Avatar). As the impending doom from above threatens, we are given a brief opportunity to get to know some of these characters, to build a slight bond with them before the battle. Sensing that it would be a detriment to the audience's emotions and the pacing of the film, Liebesman only allows us to get to know just barely enough about these soldiers, because like the 'red shirts' in "Star Trek" they are doomed to die.

Taking the rescue mission element from "Saving Private Ryan" and the invasion of the Normandy coast, Aaron Eckhart's Nantz character, under the command of 2^nd Lt. Martinez (Ramon Rodriguez) leads the 5^th into heavy gunfire while on their way to a police station to rescue civilians. An airstrike is on the way so our team has little time to mess around. The tension builds quickly and unlike "Signs" (2002) we get glimpses at of the aliens early on, but eventually get a better look sooner rather than later, to save us from any over-hype and then a possible let down by what the aliens look like. Taking hints from "Independence Day," "Predators," "Alien," and "District Nine," makeup designer Sanja Milkovic Hays designed these creatures in a similar exoskeleton style and added a touch of "Halo" and "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace" style to her designs. These aren't your cute cuddly phone home type of alien, nor are they your typical "Close Encounters" we are here to study you and play cool music alien either. Steven Spielberg, eat your heart out. They are here to wage war, mindless, senseless, total destruction type of war. The fact of the matter is, "Battle: LA" is a war picture with only an element, a layer of Science Fiction. There are attempts to pay homage to the less cynical war films of John Wayne of days past. However, we are in a new generation and the films of The Duke are only a faded memory, even to the point that after a successful daring attempt by Nantz to 'mine' a gas pump in order to take out the advancing aliens, (similar to blowing up a bridge before the enemy crosses it) Lt. Martinez commends Nantz for his John Wayne type of stunt [my words], a soldier asks, 'Who is John Wayne?'

W riter Bertolini does try to work into this war picture a certain amount of pathos. When the soldiers arrive at the almost abandoned police station, they encounter a father and his son, played respectively by Michael Peña ("Shooter") and 14 year-old Bryce Cass. Also hiding out is a Veterinary Doctor named Michelle played by Bridget Moynahan ("Unknown," "IRobot") and two young girls. It is the interaction between Nantz and these civilians where the film really tries to bring out the human touch. A scene reminiscent of "The Green Berets," where Wayne's character consoles the young Ham Chuck, transpires between Nantz and young Hector Rincon after his father dies bravely.

What underscores the epic-ness of "Battle: LA" is the Brian Taylor musical arrangement. Big and brassy without the overpowering effect of a Hans Zimmer score, Taylor's music is bold and uplifting, accenting the hopefulness of a triumph for human kind. Almost, but not quite John Williams-ish in quality bringing out emotions that want the audience to shout "oorah(!)" as the 5^th regiment does battle with the enemy.

What I find interesting about "Battle: LA" and that perhaps some won't, is that in spite of the senseless violence of war (is there any sense in war?), the unexplainable reason for alien invasion (does there need to be one?), and the now familiar "District Nine" style of alien spacecraft, I find that "Battle: LA" has an uplifting, almost cathartic quality to it. Now after several years of bad economy, high unemployment, Iraq and Afghanistan, this country needs something, or someone heroic. Aaron Eckhart makes a fine action hero and in a charming way, similar to Wayne in his younger days before the crust set in. In a poignant and pivotal scene, Aaron Eckhart as the ghost plagued Staff Sargent Nantz bears his soul to a young boy and to his men and in a way atones not only for himself, but for the film as well. Prior to this scene, mindless battles ensue, terse dialog is shouted, meaningless explosions occur and people die. Now the film has a new meaning, a new direction, a new reason for trying to save our dying planet. For the women and the children, for our fallen brave, for a hope of survival, and the hope that out of the wreckage of Los Angeles (or that matter, humankind), a new, and better world will emerge. See the film in the theaters, pay full price if you must, eat popcorn, splurge if you want, see "Battle: LA," you'll thank me.

Movie Data

Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi

Year:  2011

Staring: Aaron Eckhart, Ramon Rodriguez, Bridget Moynahan, Michael Peña, Michelle Rodriguez

Director: Jonathan Liebesman

Producer(s): Ori Marmur, Neal H. Moritz

Writer: Christopher Bertolini

Rating: PG-13

Running Time: 116 minutes

Release Date:  1/24/2014

Originally published on Associated Content, then on Yahoo on 3/12/2011