FILM REVIEW OF ''I, FRANKENSTEIN" (2014)

A cleverly reimagined but lightweight horror chiller, “I, Frankenstein” (*** OUT OF ****) qualifies as an entertaining, PG-13 rated, supernatural saga about the further adventures of the infamous monster.  “Tomorrow, When the War Began” writer & director Stuart Beattie and “Underworld” scenarist Kevin Grevioux, who wrote the Darkstorm Studios graphic novel prequel, have forged a fast-moving fantasy that borrows from the “Underworld” franchise, “Legion,” “Priest,” “Batman,” and “Constantine.”  Unlike previous “Frankenstein” films, however, “I, Frankenstein” occurs in a contemporary setting after a brief 18^th century prologue.  Our stitched together protagonist finds himself caught between an order of virtuous Gargoyles and wicked Demons in an apocalyptic battle for the fate of Earth.  Essentially, with regard to Biblical time-lines, the action takes place after the fall of Satan.  Leading man Aaron Eckhart has definitely surpassed himself not only with his chiseled, six-pack physique as the centuries old monster, but also with a haunted performance that evokes sympathy for the anti-heroic monster.  Mind you, Frankenstein’s monster remains a treacherous character, rough-hewn-around-the-edges, without a twinkle in his gimlet eyes.  When Eckhart isn’t striking a cool, anti-heroic pose,  Bill Nighy’s nefarious villain-in-charge mesmerizes us with another polished performance.  Naturally, Nighy is cast as the supreme Demon, Prince Naberius, who looks quite a sight when he shape-shifts into a Demon.  Listening to this seasoned British actor deliver his dialogue with a succulent relish for each syllable is a treat in itself.  Meantime, director Beattie stages several exciting entrances and exits by both the Gargoyles and our hero.  Heroes and villains love to plunge through ceilings like Michael Keaton did as the Caped Crusader in the 1989 “Batman.”  The close-quarters combat sequences are reminiscent of “Priest” (2011) with the monster wielding two-and-a-half foot-long sticks.  The settings and the costumes imbue the action with atmosphere.  “Wolverine” director of photography Ross Emery makes everything appear visually resplendent, particularly when Demons die in battle.  When a Demon dies, its body glows incandescently and then erupts into fireballs.

“I, Frankenstein” picks up Mary Shelley’s classic narrative thread and then ushers its immortal monster into a contemporary setting.  In voice-over narration, the grim monster provides us with all the important details about Victor Frankenstein (Aden Young of “Black Robe”) and his success with reanimating dead tissue.  So disgusted did Frankenstein feel about what he had created from eight corpses and brought to life using electric eels that he bundled it up and dumped it into a river.  Nevertheless, the monster managed to survive, and it murdered Frankenstein’s wife.  Frankenstein pursued the blasphemous creation into the frozen wilderness, but the mad scientist succumbed to the elements before he could dispatch the monster.  Afterward, the notorious Prince Naberius (Bill Nighy of “Underworld”) learned about the monster and included him in his ambitious plans to resurrect an army of Demons confined in Hell.  He appoints Zuriel (Socratis Otto of “Gone”) to capture the monster after the latter has buried his creator.  Two Gargoyles intervene on the monster’s behalf as the Demons challenge him at his father’s burial site.  After repulsing the Demons, Frankenstein’s monster finds himself airlifted by the Gargoyles to a cathedral where he meets their matriarch.  Queen Leonore (Miranda Ott of “War of the Worlds”) refuses to let her brawny second-in-command, Gideon (Jai Courtney of “Jack Reacher”), slay the monster.  Instead, she names the monster “Adam.”  Could anything have been less  symbolic?  She explains that the Gargoyles and the Demons have been waging an eternal war that mankind knows nothing about despite the high body count on both sides.  At the same time, Naberius has fooled two scientists into working for his cause to replicate Frankenstein’s success with bringing the dead back to life.  Naturally, Terra (lovely Yvonne Strahovski of “Killer Elite”) dismisses the legend of Frankenstein as hokum.  Eventually, she comes face-to-face with reality when she meets not only Adam but also peruses Frankenstein’s journal.  Mind you, “I, Frankenstein” emphasizes thrilling, athletic action set-pieces so our hero and heroine have no time to enjoy intimacy in a romantic sense.  Terra spends her time sewing up part of Adam’s back when he isn’t rescuing her as a damsel-in-distress from Prince Naberius’ minions.  For the record, Naberius’ chief henchman, the hulking Dekar, who speaks in a voice that sounds like it comes from the pit of Hell itself, is played by writer Kevin Grevioux!

“I, Frankenstein” is a good movie, but it suffers from several shortcomings.  First, exposition dominates the action.  Any time you conjure up a fantasy world, you must explain who is who and what is what.  Virtually every other line of dialogue serves to explain details.  Director Stuart Beattie and scripter Kevin Grevioux shoehorn in a plethora of information about whom and what into this lean and mean movie that takes up less than 90 minutes when you subtract the end credits.  Incidentally, you need not sit out the end credits for fear of missing any additional scenes.  Nonetheless, some of their exposition must have hit the editing room floor.  For example, we are told neither how the monster acquired his superhuman strength nor his immortality.  Between the times that Adam finds his creator frozen in the snow and encounters Terra, more than two hundred years have passed!  Second, the visual effects are lackluster.  The Demons look like they don Halloween masks when they transform and the Gargoyles look pretty hokey as they hover in flight by flapping their reptilian wings.  Presumably, the $69-million budget went to other things.  Happily, Beattie and Grevioux discarded everything else about the traditional Frankenstein monster’s hideous appearance from the original movies.  He doesn’t have bolts protruding from his neck.  He doesn’t stomp around like a sleep-walking soldier and he speaks in complete sentences.  He is more like Robert De Niro’s monster in “Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein” (1994) because he possesses intelligence.  Altogether, despite some obvious weaknesses, “I, Frankenstein” is a lot of fun to watch, and I enjoyed it so much that I saw it a second time.

FILM REVIEW OF "JENNIFER'S BODY" (2009)

Megan Fox takes top billing in “Æon Flux” director Karyn Kusama’s evil girl horror comedy “Jennifer’s Body,” (**** out of *****) an original, R-rated, feminist chiller about a lusty succubus and her vengeful adversary. Of course, “Transformers” babe Megan sheds not a stitch, but she chows down on dudes with an appetite. Although it lacks the onion layers of detail that characterized Diablo Cody’s Oscar-winning “Juno” script, “Jennifer’s Body” possesses a mischievous “Heathers” meets “Carrie” quality that transcends its blood and gore basics. Indeed, the dialogue bears the quintessential Cody quality. Meaning, it is self-conscious, flirtatious, and quotable, like nothing you’d expect in a standard issue scary movie. The characters aren’t the usual ensemble of fish bait waiting to be munched by the bunch. “Jennifer’s Body” never wears out its welcome and Kusama keeps it compelling, even when she is not trying to jolt up with a scare.

Anita ‘Needy’ (Amanda Seyfried of "Mamma Mia!") and Jennifer (Megan Fox) have been best friends since they met in a sandbox. Indeed, they wear matching necklaces with heart-shaped pendants bearing the initials BFF in them. They attend the same high school in the small town of Devil’s Kettle, Minnesota. The town takes its name from a local waterfall that apparently has no bottom. Scientists have been tossing everything known to mankind short of humans into the pool, but nothing has come back. Jennifer convinces Needy to ditch her drummer boyfriend, Chip (Johnny Simmons of “The Spirit”), for the evening and accompany her to a honky-tonk called The Melody Lounge Tavern where a big city indie Goth band named ‘Low Shoulder’ is scheduled to perform. Chip warns them that the bar is a dive. Nothing, however, can distract Jennifer from sexy lead singer Nikolai Wolf (Adam Brody of “Grind”) and he reciprocates her interest. In fact, the whole band agrees that Nikolai has chosen well. During their performance, a fire erupts in the tavern and flames engulf everything. Several people perish, but Needy and Jennifer escape without a scratch. Right behind them with a drink in his hand appears Nikolai.

Not surprisingly, Nikolai has mesmerized Jennifer and persuaded her to jump into his sinister van with his fellow musicians. Needy turns them down. The next time that Needy sees Jennifer, our hot chick protagonist stands drenched in blood and projectile vomits black goo all over Needy’s linoleum kitchen floor. Needy describes it to Chip as “roadkill and sewing needles mixed together.'' The next morning Needy sees Jennifer in class looking none the worse for wear. Before she was just a cheerleader, but now Jennifer has mutated into pure evil. Indeed, Jennifer lives to gobble up guys. Literally, she feasts off the flesh of teenage boys. She lives to kill and she doesn’t care who she gets. Jennifer’s lack of discrimination spells big trouble for her. Sometimes, she attracts an audience of woodland creatures who join in on the human buffet after she has stuffed herself.

One of the high school teachers, Mr. Wroblewski (J.K. Simmons of “Extract”) stumbles out into the woods behind the school and finds the star linebacker, Jonas Konelle (Josh Emerson of “Comeback Season”) dead on his back. Jennifer has ripped Jonas’ stomach wide open, and a “Bambi” type doe licks his innards. Eventually, Jennifer lets Needy in on her secret. The Goth band sacrificed her to Satan and carved her up. Nikolai and company thought Jennifer was a virgin, but she wasn’t one. Now, she has come back as a demon with a need to feed. When she looks her best, Jennifer has been feeding. When she runs out of guys to eat, she looks horrible. She doesn’t wear make-up and her hair loses its fluff. Eventually, Jennifer begins to eyeball Needy’s boyfriend Chip so Needy ditches him at the spring high school formal. Needy and Jennifer part company as friends when the latter attacks Chip. This is about the time that things really start to happen, emphasizing the dominant theme of gals versus gals in a struggle between demonic titans.

Basically, “Jennifer’s Body” qualifies as a standard Dracula versus Van Helsing type yarn. No, vampires do not infest in this outstanding fright flick. A monster roams the land, feeding off defenseless mankind, specifically teenage guys, and a hero—heroine in this instance--must destroy it after acquiring the knowledge. Happily, this formulaic nail biter told in flashback mode springs a sufficient number of surprises. The action is narrated from Needy’s perspective and her first line is: “Hell is a teenage girl.” This film chronicles the friendship between Needy and Jennifer and their virtually psychic bond. For example, Needy has an uncanny way of knowing where Jennifer is and she can sometimes experience what Jennifer is doing. Director Kusama, who also directed “Girlfight,” splashes buckets of bloods all over “Jennifer’s Body,” but she draws the line at gratuitous nudity, though a gratuitous lesbian make-out scene occurs over half-way through the pictures’ 101 minutes.

Sometimes the predictable occurs as it should, but sometimes Kusama and Cody pull a switcheroo. Primarily, Megan Fox has to look spectacular with lots of lip gloss, but Kusama never lets her starlet embarrass herself. Fox gets to play a round character in that the character undergoes change. She starts out as straight vampy cheerleader Jennifer and turns into demonic Jennifer. On the other hand, Seyfried and a strong supporting cast, including J.K. Simmons, as a teacher with a prosthetic arm, get a lot of mileage out of their contribution. The ending is terrific, too.