I, Frankenstein is set to tap into gothic action to give Mary Shelly’s monster a more heroic reboot for the 21st century, harnessing a similar style to that of Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter and Hellboy. It splices the old sci-fi story of Frankenstein’s laboratory creation with fantasy fiction noir to create an action adventure that sees a new underworld battling reality for the reanimated superhuman.
Set for a release date on the 24th January 2014, the film sees Aaron Eckhard become the legendary monster, which has already spawned a fair few movie adaptations and reinterpretations over the years. Few of them see the monster on the side of good though and even less manage to instil an element of fun into the mix, but I, Frankenstein looks like it might have a good chunk of both.
The story is set in modern day New York, where the monster hides away as Adam Frankenstein, taking on his creator’s surname and the first name of the biblical character he associates himself with. However, when he becomes embroiled in an underworld feud between demons and gargoyles with a plot to destroy the human race at the centre of it he finds himself fighting to save the world, despite man’s rejection of him throughout his life.
With his superhuman strength and stamina he’s able to match the gargoyles and demons as they attack in numbers from the sky. Things start to get a bit more of a challenge though when the demons manage to use his DNA to create an army of Frankenstein’s monsters to hurl against him and the rest of humanity in a bid to take over the world as the new supreme race.
Eckhart is joined by a cast that includes Bill Nighy (Arthur Christmas) as the head of the demon clan and Jai Courtney (A Good Day To Die Hard) as the lead warrior in the gargoyle army. They’re added to by the presence of Miranda Otto as the queen of the gargoyles and Yvonne Strahovski (Mass Effect 3) as Frankenstein’s love interest.
Written and directed by Stuart Beattie, it’s a sci-fi fantasy fiction crossover with a lot of fight scene action, dark arts and special effects packed into it, building on his previous work on Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl, Collateral and 30 Days Of Night. On the other hand, he’s also been involved in less well received films like Australia and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, so hopefully I, Frankenstein will take much more from the former selection than the latter.
The monster romper-stomper has been produced by Lakeshore Entertainment, who were also behind the similarly themed Underworld, so if you liked that I, Frankenstein should be a firm favourite too.
