Oy, Veykenstein - I, Frankenstein Review

I, Frankenstein was better than it had any right to be. That said, it was still a long way from "good". Maybe it was Stuart Beattie, who was a second-time director and maybe unfamiliar with the intricacies of making a movie flow. Or maybe it was just that the movie was too short. Though, as the writer of the screenplay Beattie might also be to blame there.

Too short? Yes. If you take away the story, the action sequences in I, Frankenstein were actually fairly good. As were the special effects. Even most of the acting was fine. If the story had a bit more time to develop, I think the overall film would have come out better. As it stands, you are barely introduced to the characters before epic-scale fight sequences begin and the story starts to unravel.

That story is as follows: Frankenstein, played by Aaron Eckhart is drawn in to a fight between the Gargoyle order (headed by Miranda Otto's Leanore) and evil demons (headed by Bill Nighy, as Naberius). That's basically the end of the plot, other than a few other things that would essentially give the movie away. Suffice it to say that the Naberius really wants to catch and study Frankenstein. Meanwhile, Leanore and Frankenstein are both trying to avoid it.

There's good fight sequences, good effects, and Billy Nighy is amazing as always. He is the best part of the Underworld films, and brings his evil charm to this movie as well. Aaron Eckhart tries his damndest to care, but it's apparent that his heart just isn't in it. He does try to impersonate Christian Bale's Batman voice, but it doesn't come off too well.

This one gets a 2/5. Buoyed by the effects and Bill Nighy-ness of the movie. Had it been a bit longer, and you had a chance to care about the characters, it could have been a fine mediocre-film. Now, it's just a decent film to watch on a slow Netflix day.

Olympus Has Fallen - My Interest Has Risen!

Morgan Freeman. Even when he isn't playing the president, he ends up playing the president. That man is magical. Olympus Has Fallen is about the White House getting terrorized in spectacular fashion and Aaron Eckhart's President Asher getting taken hostage. It's up to our man on the inside Gerard Butler to rescue him and the First Child (not to be confused with the Golden Child), Connor.

Olympus Has Fallen - Trailer

It's a pretty good movie. There's lots of explosions. The action is gritty and it certainly deserves an "R" for violence. The story is "plausible" in that, it isn't out of the realm of imagination that the White House could be attacked by terrorists, however the way it gets infiltrated is a smidge over the top. The plot revolves around a group of North Koreans breaking in to the White House and taking the President hostage, and threaten to execute him unless the United States has pulls out of the DMZ and recalls the 7th Fleet, which is positioned in the South China Sea to support the South Koreans should shit hit the fan.

As fun and captivating as the story line is, lets take a moment to talk about the importance of not having a stingy special effects budget.When you have the National Monument falling to pieces, maybe have a little bit more pixels shaded eh? Or perhaps when you show the White House getting hit by a helicopter, a few more details would be good?

I took this screenshot from the trailer above.

                            

It makes me sad that often, fairly decent movies can "take me out of the action" by having some fairly wonky visual effects. I'm hoping that as visual effects get even more prevalent in films that studios will take an extra week or two and put some more detail in to the movies. Especially now that we're in a HD universe. 

Special Effects aside the movie's fun! I give it a 4/5, but make sure if you go it's with folks that don't mind a little violence. The movie's got plenty of it! It's a fine flick, but they really didn't leave themselves a lot of wiggle room for a sequel...which might be the best part!