''I, Frankenstein'' is a 2014 American

science fantasy file:Warhammer40kcosplay.jpg, Cosplay of a character from the ''Warhammer 40,000'' tabletop game; one critic has characterized the game's setting as "action-oriented science-fantasy." Science fantasy is a hybrid genre within speculative fiction ...

action film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...

written and directed by Stuart Beattie, based on the digital-only graphic novel by

Kevin Grevioux Kevin Grevioux (; born September 9, 1962) is an American actor, screenwriter, Film director, director, and Comic book creator, comic book writer. He is best known for his role as Raze in the ''Underworld (film series), Underworld'' film series, wh ...

. An international co-production between the United States and Australia, the film was produced by Tom Rosenberg, Gary Lucchesi, Richard Wright, Andrew Mason and Sidney Kimmel. It stars Aaron Eckhart, Bill Nighy, Yvonne Strahovski,

Miranda Otto Miranda Otto (born 16 December 1967) is an Australian actress. She is the daughter of actors Barry Otto, Barry and Lindsay Otto and the paternal half-sister of actress Gracie Otto. Otto began her acting career in 1986 at age 18 and appeared in a ...

and Jai Courtney. The film tells the story of Adam, Frankenstein's creature, who embarks on a dangerous journey to stop evil demons and their ruthless leader from taking over the world. The film was released on January 24, 2014, in the United States and on March 20, 2014, in Australia. The film received extremely negative reviews and was a

box-office bomb A box-office bomb is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the combined production budget, marketing, and distribution costs exceed the revenue after release has te ...

, grossing $76 million worldwide against a production budget of $65 million.

Plot

In 1795, Doctor Victor Frankenstein creates a

monster A monster is a type of imaginary or fictional creature found in literature, folklore, mythology, fiction and religion. They are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive, with a strange or grotesque appearance that causes Anxiety, terror ...

by putting together parts of corpses and reanimating them. Horrified by his creation, Frankenstein tries to destroy it, but the monster survives and murders his wife Elizabeth. Frankenstein chases it to the Arctic but succumbs to the cold weather. When the monster returns home to bury Frankenstein, it is attacked by

demon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in folklore, mythology, religion, occultism, and literature; these beliefs are reflected in Media (communication), media including f ...

s, but is then rescued by two

gargoyle In architecture, and specifically Gothic architecture, a gargoyle () is a carved or formed Grotesque (architecture), grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building, thereby preventing it from ...

s, Ophir and Keziah. They bring it to a cathedral, where the monster meets the gargoyle queen Leonore and her second-in-command, Gideon. Leonore explains that they were created by the

Archangel Archangels () are the second lowest rank of angel in the Catholic hierarchy of angels, based on and put forward by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite in the 5th or 6th century in his book ''De Coelesti Hierarchia'' (''On the Celestial Hierarchy'') ...

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...

to battle demons on Earth and protect humanity. She names the creature "Adam" and invites him to join them, but he declines and departs. He is given baton-like weapons to defend himself, as more demons will come after him. The weapons allow him to "descend" demons (destroying their bodies and trapping their souls in

Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location or state in the afterlife in which souls are subjected to punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history sometimes depict hells as eternal destinations, such as Christianity and I ...

) as they have the symbol of the Gargoyle Order carved on them. For the next 200 years, Adam lives apart from society, killing any demon that pursues him and hiding from them. Deciding to rejoin society in the modern day, Adam looks for and confronts a group of demons. During the fight, a police officer is killed. This causes Adam to be summoned by the gargoyles once more, and they decide to imprison him as punishment. A demo,n Helek, who survived Adam's attack, reports to his leader, the demon prince Naberius, that Adam is alive. Naberius has disguised himself as billionaire businessman Charles Wessex and employs

scientist A scientist is a person who Scientific method, researches to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engag ...

s Terra Wade and Carl Avery to conduct experiments to reanimate corpses. He sends a group of demons led by his most formidable warrior, Zuriel, to attack the gargoyles' cathedral and capture Adam so he can unlock the secret to resurrecting the dead. In the attack, many demons are slain and 16 gargoyles, including Ophir and Keziah, are "ascended" (returned to and trapped in

Heaven Heaven, or the Heavens, is a common Religious cosmology, religious cosmological or supernatural place where beings such as deity, deities, angels, souls, saints, or Veneration of the dead, venerated ancestors are said to originate, be throne, ...

), but Zuriel sneaks in and captures Leonore and takes her to an abandoned theater. Adam interrogates a demon, who tells him they lured the gargoyles out to capture Leonore so they can force the gargoyles to trade Adam for her. Gideon is instructed to trade Adam to them; however, Adam escapes after the attack. Without Adam, Gideon offers to trade Frankenstein's journal for Leonore, which was found on Doctor Victor Frankenstein's body the night they found him. Gideon gives Zuriel the journal at the theater, and Leonore is spared. Adam follows Zuriel to the Wessex Institute, where he discovers thousands of corpses underground and learns that Naberius plans to recreate Frankenstein's experiment by reanimating the corpses and using them as hosts for the descended demons so he can rebuild his armies and destroy humanity. Adam retrieves the journal from Terra and escapes the demons. He later tracks down Terra and asks for her help. The two are attacked by Zuriel, where Adam fights and manages to descend him. Adam warns the remaining gargoyles of Naberius' plan, agreeing to give them the journal if they get him and Terra to safety. Leonore agrees, and when Adam leaves, she secretly sends Gideon to kill him after he retrieves the journal. After a violent fight, Adam ascends Gideon and then burns Frankenstein's journal and destroys its secrets before the gargoyles come after him. Luring them out of the cathedral, Adam leads them to the Wessex Institute, where they descend Naberius's right-hand man, Dekar, and then battle more demons. In the ensuing battle, Adam goes into the institute to rescue Terra, who had been kidnapped by Naberius and forced to begin the process of reanimating the corpses. Naberius overpowers Adam and tries to have one of the demon spirits possess him, but it doesn't work because Adam has developed a soul of his own. Adam carves the Gargoyle Order symbol on Naberius, descending him to Hell. The institute collapses and falls into an abyss, where all the demons and all the possessed corpses are destroyed, and Naberius' plan is thwarted. Leonore also rescues Adam and Terra from falling into the abyss, and they return to the cathedral. Leonore forgives Adam for Gideon's death, and Adam bids farewell to Terra. In the ending scene, Adam narrates that he will continue defending the world from demons as he declares himself "Frankenstein".

Cast

* Aaron Eckhart as Adam Frankenstein, a superhuman creature created by Dr. Frankenstein * Bill Nighy as Naberius, a demon prince who poses as Charles Wessex, head of the scientific Wessex Institute * Yvonne Strahovski as Dr. Terra Wade, a world-renowned electrophysiologist employed by Naberius to research reanimation of dead matter *

as Leonore, the gargoyle queen * Jai Courtney as Gideon, leader of the gargoyle army *

Socratis Otto Socratis Otto is an Australian film, theatre and television actor. He is best known for his roles in television series ''Young Lions (TV series), Young Lions'' as Justin Carmody, ''Home and Away'' as Robert Robertson (Home and Away), Robert Ro ...

as Zuriel, Naberius' most formidable warrior *

as Dekar, a high-ranking demon who serves as the head of security at the Wessex Institute * Caitlin Stasey as Keziah, a gargoyle *

Mahesh Jadu Mahesh Jadu (born 26 October 1982) is an Australian actor. He is best known for the role of Dr. Doug Harris in the soap opera ''Neighbours'' and the role of Ahmad in Netflix original series ''Marco Polo''. He also portrayed the supporting rol ...

as Ophir, a gargoyle * Nicholas Bell as Carl Avery * Steve Mouzakis as Helek *

Deniz Akdeniz Deniz Akdeniz (born 16 May 1990) is an Australian actor. He starred in the Australian remake of As the Bell Rings (Australian TV series), ''As the Bell Rings'', from 2007 to 2009. In 2010, Akdeniz gained wider recognition for his leading role i ...

as Barachel

Production

of ''

Underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld. ...

'' sold the original screenplay to

Lakeshore Entertainment Lakeshore Village Entertainment, LLC was an American independent film production, finance, and former international sales and distribution company founded in 1994 by Tom Rosenberg and Ted Tannebaum. Lakeshore Entertainment is headquartered in Bev ...

in 2010. It is based on his Darkstorm Studios digital graphic novel of the same name. Lakeshore, an independent

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of 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 Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

and that Australia's Hopscotch Features would co-produce the film with Lakeshore. The movie's visual effects budget was $6 million.The director's commentary on the DVD. 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

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 Satan, also known as the Devil, is a devilish entity in Abrahamic religions who seduces humans into sin (or falsehood). In Judaism, Satan is seen as an agent subservient to God, typically regarded as a metaphor for the '' yetzer hara'', or ' ...

." Eckhart and Otto trained for three months with martial arts experts Ron Balicki and Diana Lee Inosanto in the Filipino martial art of

Kali Kali (; , ), also called Kalika, is a major goddess in Hinduism, primarily associated with time, death and destruction. Kali is also connected with transcendental knowledge and is the first of the ten Mahavidyas, a group of goddesses who p ...

for their fight scenes.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

began on February 27, 2012, based at

Docklands Studios Melbourne Docklands Studios Melbourne is a major film and television production complex located in Melbourne’s redeveloped Docklands precinct. The site is approximately from Melbourne’s Central Business District. The complex opened in 2004 and its ...

. Filming occurred in

Victoria, Australia Victoria, commonly abbreviated as Vic, is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state (after Tasmania), with a land area of ; the second-most-populated state (after New South Wales), with a population of over 7 million; ...

over a period of ten weeks, with multiple scenes being filmed at Ormond College. The film created over 500 jobs for cast and crew.

Release

The North American release was originally set for February 22, 2013, and later moved to September 13, 2013. In April 2013 the release date was pushed back again, and saw its world premiere in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

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. In February 2013, it was announced the film would be released in 3D. On September 17, 2013, it was announced that the film would be digitally re-mastered and released in the

IMAX IMAX is a proprietary system of High-definition video, high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and movie theater, theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (image), aspect ratio (approximately ei ...

format.

Home media

''I, Frankenstein'' was released on DVD and Blu-ray on May 13, 2014.

Reception

Critical response

Mike McCahill of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' gave the film two stars, calling it a "barely functioning multiplex-filler". James Mottram at ''

Total Film ''Total Film'' was a British film magazine published 13 times a year (published monthly with a summer issue added, between the July and August issues, every year since issue 91, 2004) by Future Publishing. The magazine was launched in 1997 and of ...

'' also gave it two stars, calling it a "knuckle-headed fantasy".

Box office

In the United States and Canada, the film was released in a total of 2,763 theaters of which 3D and

comprised 95% of the total theaters. It earned $8.6 million in its opening weekend, which was below expectations. About 65% of the grosses came from 3D showings. It had a successful opening in Russia with $6.3 million from 1,846 screens. ''I, Frankenstein'' grossed $19.1million in the United States and Canada, and $57.7million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $76.8million, against a production budget of $65million.

Potential sequels and ''Underworld'' crossover

Much doubt has been cast over a sequel due to the film's lackluster box office performance, though

, 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 Kathrin Romany Beckinsale (born 26 July 1973) is an English actress. The only child of actors Richard Beckinsale and Judy Loe, she debuted in the series premiere of the 1975 daytime drama ''Couples.'' In 1993, she made her theatrical film deb ...

would have made a post-credits cameo appearance as Selene and that there would have been ''Underworld''

Easter eggs Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs, are eggs that are Egg decorating, decorated for the Christian holiday of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. As such, Easter eggs are commonly used during the season of Eastertide (Easter ...

, but none of this was used.

References

External links

* * * {{Portal bar, Film, United States, Speculative fiction/Horror, Australia 2014 films 2014 3D films 2014 science fiction action films 2010s monster movies American science fantasy films American science fiction action films American science fiction thriller films Australian action adventure films Australian fantasy films Australian science fiction action films Australian science fiction thriller films Demons in film Films based on American comics Films directed by Stuart Beattie Films produced by Gary Lucchesi Films produced by Sidney Kimmel Films produced by Tom Rosenberg Films scored by Reinhold Heil Films scored by Johnny Klimek Films with screenplays by Stuart Beattie Films shot in Melbourne Frankenstein films Gargoyles in popular culture IMAX films Lakeshore Entertainment films Sidney Kimmel Entertainment films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films Films set in London English-language science fantasy films English-language science fiction action films English-language action adventure films American fantasy action films American monster movies