I, Frankenstein is a 2014 American fantasy action film written and directed by Stuart Beattie and based on the graphic novel by Kevin Grevioux. The film stars Aaron Eckhart, Bill Nighy, Yvonne Strahovski, Miranda Otto, Jai Courtney and Kevin Grevioux.
Plot
In 1795, Dr. Victor Frankenstein (Aden Young) creates a monster (Aaron Eckhart), a soulless creature patched together from corpses, and then rejects it. In a fit of rage, the creature kills Victor's wife Elizabeth (Virginie Le Brun) and Victor chases it to the Arctic to get revenge, but succumbs to the weather. The creature buries his creator and is then attacked by demons before being rescued by the gargoyles Ophir (Mahesh Jadu) and Keziah (Caitlin Stasey), who bring it before the gargoyle queen Leonore (Miranda Otto) and their commander Gideon (Jai Courtney). Leonore explains that they were created by the Archangel Michael to battle demons on Earth and protect humanity. They name the creature "Adam" and invite him to join them, but he declines and departs after being given blade-like weapons that allow him to "descend" demons (destroying their bodies and trapping their souls in Hell) as they have the symbol of the Gargoyle Order carved on them.
Throughout the centuries, Adam fends off the demons that pursue him. During a modern-day confrontation at a nightclub, a human police officer is killed. While Adam is summoned by the gargoyles once more, the demon Helek (Steve Mouzakis) reports that Adam is alive to his leader, the demon-prince Naberius (Bill Nighy), who is disguised as billionaire businessman Charles Wessex, and his right-hand man, Dekar (Kevin Grevioux). Wessex has employed scientist Terra Wade (Yvonne Strahovski) to conduct experiments with reanimated corpses, and sends a group of demons led by his most formidable warrior, Zuriel (Socratis Otto), to attack the gargoyles' cathedral and capture Adam so he can unlock the secret to giving life.
Before Leonore can punish Adam for the police officer's death, the cathedral is attacked, and Adam convinces Ophir to release him. In the ensuing battle, a number of gargoyles, including Ophir and Keziah, are "ascended" (returned to and trapped in Heaven) while Leonore is captured and brought to an abandoned theater. Adam and Gideon head there where Gideon exchanges Leonore for Victor Frankenstein's journal, containing the secrets of the experiment. Adam follows Zuriel to the Wessex Institute, where he learns that Naberius plans to recreate Frankenstein's experiment and create thousands of reanimated corpses as the souls of the descended demons will be able to return from Hell if they have soulless bodies to possess. Adam retrieves the journal and escapes and later confronts Terra before they are attacked by Zuriel. Adam manages to "descend" Zuriel.
Adam warns the remaining gargoyles of Naberius' plan and Lenore sends Gideon to kill him and retrieve the journal. After a violent fight, Adam is forced to "ascend" Gideon and then decides to burn Frankenstein's journal and destroy its secrets before the gargoyles come after him. Adam evades them, leading them to the Wessex Institute where they join battle with Naberius' demons, descending Dekar early in the fight. While the battle progresses, Adam ventures into the Institute to rescue Terra, who had been kidnapped by Naberius, who takes his true demonic form and activates the machine. Naberius overpowers Adam, and tries to have one of the demon spirits possess him, but Adam proves immune as he has grown his own soul. As the gargoyles attempt to stop the reanimated demons, Adam carves the symbol of the Gargoyle Order on Naberius, sanctifying his very body and utterly destroying it, descending Naberius alongside all the other demons in his army, and causing the entire building to collapse.
Recognizing Adam's bravery, Leonore rescues him and Terra and forgives Adam for Gideon's death. Adam retrieves his weapons. After bidding farewell to Terra, Adam departs to begin an immortal quest to protect the humans of the world and hunt demons for selfless reasons, the attitude that had earned him his soul in the first place. In so doing, he embraces his role and his true name of "Frankenstein".
Main cast
- Aaron Eckhart as Adam Frankenstein/Frankenstein's monster, a superhuman being created from science using various parts of corpses and electricity.
- Bill Nighy as Charles Wessex/Prince Naberius, head of the Wessex Institute, leader of the demons, and one of the original fallen angels who fell from Heaven with Lucifer.
- Yvonne Strahovski as Terra Wade, a scientist employed by Naberius to unlock the secrets to give life.
- Miranda Otto as Leonore, the gargoyle queen.
- Socratis Otto as Zuriel, Naberius' most formidable warrior.
- Jai Courtney as Gideon, leader of the gargoyle army.
- Nicholas Bell as Carl Avery, a scientist and Wade's colleague
- Kevin Grevioux as Dekar, Wessex head of security and a high-ranking demon.
- Steve Mouzakis as Helek, a demon serving under Naberius.
- Aden Young as Dr. Victor Frankenstein, a scientist and Adam's creator.
- Caitlin Stasey as Keziah, a gargoyle who helps to save Adam from the demons.
- Deniz Akdeniz as Barachel
- Virginie Le Brun as Elizabeth Lavenza-Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein's wife.
- Goran D. Kleut as Rekem
- Mahesh Jadu as Ophir, a gargoyle.
- Penny Higgs as Sargon
Production
Kevin Grevioux of Underworld sold the original screenplay to Lakeshore Entertainment in 2010. It is based on his Darkstorm Studios graphic novel of the same name. Lakeshore, an independent Los Angeles production company which also produced the Underworld films, brought Stuart Beattie on board to re-write and direct in early 2011. In November 2011, it was confirmed that filming would take place in Melbourne and that Australia's Hopscotch Features would co-produce the film with Lakeshore.
Principal photography began on February 27, 2012, based at Docklands Studios Melbourne. Filming occurred in Victoria, Australia over a period of ten weeks, with multiple scenes being filmed at Ormond College. The film created over 500 jobs for cast and crew.
It was announced on October 7, 2011 that Aaron Eckhart would play the lead role. Eckhart described his character thus: "Frankenstein is an intelligent, evolved man, and that’s how he is portrayed in this movie, for sure." In November 2011, Yvonne Strahovski was cast as the female lead, a scientist working to reanimate the dead, while Miranda Otto was cast as the queen of the gargoyles. Bill Nighy plays the film's villain, whom he described as a "Nasty piece of work; one of the angels descended with Satan." Eckhart and Otto trained for three months with martial arts experts Ron Balicki and Diana Lee Inosanto in the Filipino martial art of Kali for their fight scenes.
Release
The North American release was originally set for February 22, 2013, but five months before it was moved to September 13, 2013. In February 2013, it was announced the film would be released in 3D. In April 2013 the release date was moved again, to January 24, 2014. The film saw its world premiere in Buenos Aires on January 20, 2014, after which it was released in 23 countries between January 22 and January 24. It was released in a further nine countries between January 29 and January 31. On September 17, 2013, it was announced that the film would be digitally re-mastered and released in the IMAX format.
Home media
I, Frankenstein was released on DVD and Blu-ray on May 13, 2014.
Reception
Critical response
I, Frankenstein was panned by critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a 3% rating, with an average score of 3.2/10. based on 86 reviews, the general consessus is "Loud, incoherent, and dramatically listless, I, Frankenstein is a remarkably dull fantasy adventure that fails to generate much excitement or interest in its characters." On Metacritic, the film holds a 30 (out of 100), based on 20 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Mike McCahill of The Guardian gave the film 2 stars and Total Film also gave it 2 stars. Among the film's three positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes was Ben Sachs, who said of the film "The novel premise quickly gives way to lots of chaotic action, though there are numerous incidental pleasures throughout."
Box office
On its opening weekend, it debuted at #6 with a box-office of $8.6 million. As of March 9, 2014, the film has grossed $18,900,098 in North America, and $50,409,000 elsewhere, for a worldwide total of $69,309,098, surpassing the $65 million budget.
Potential sequels and Underworld crossover
Much doubt has been cast over a sequel due to the film's lackluster box office performance, though Kevin Grevioux, writer of the original screenplay and creator of the graphic novel and the Underworld film series, had earlier expressed interest in making more I, Frankenstein films along with an Underworld crossover film. He stated in a pre-release interview that, in an early draft of his screenplay, Kate Beckinsale would have made a post-credits cameo appearance as Selene and that there would have been Underworld Easter eggs, but none of this was used.
