First look–Eckhart, Nighy, Otto and Strahovski in “I, Frankenstein”

It has the overall look of the Underworld series and the Hugh Jackman Van Helsing movie. And it appears to be a Highlander-inspired story–a fantastical character thrust into our present-day world–this time with a better actor playing the lead. And exactly how many CGI flying demons can you fit into one movie? We don’t care, we just wish it was showing this week since we’re getting to Halloween with no good spooky flick to see in the theater if you’ve no desire to watch a remake of Carrie.

The first full trailer for I, Frankenstein is full of genre actors we can’t get enough of. Start with the lead: Aaron Eckhart as Adam, who takes the last name of his creator, Dr. Frankenstein, as has occurred in countless retellings over the past two hundred years. Eckhart’s best known role is of course as Harvey Dent/Two-Face in the most recent Batman trilogy. But he was brilliant in the Philip K. Dick story adaptation Paycheck, in Thank You for Smoking, and Erin Brockovich (and almost unrecognizable). He just doesn’t make enough movies for a guy who has so much coolness and charisma.

And we have yet to see Yvonne Strahovski in a major role outside the lead female role in the TV series Chuck. She seems like she should be in all kinds of big movies so we hope this one helps her career.

Bill Nighy is an actor that can do no wrong. We at borg.com have simply referred to him as being in “everything” in past reviews simply because his list of key roles is so long. After a long career in British TV and movies, we first took note of Nighy in the movie I Capture the Castle and the mini-series State of Play. He then embarked on a multi-film role in the Underworld series. By the time of his role in Shaun of the Dead he was genre royalty. He went on to play Davy Jones in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, and was in Hot Fuzz, Valkyrie, Doctor Who, the Harry Potter franchise, Total Recall, and Jack the Giant Slayer. What’s left? We think he’s a must for the Disney Star Wars trilogy.

And Miranda Otto has a main role in I, Frankenstein. The heroine of The Lord of the Rings trilogy has since then only appeared in major roles in the remakes of The Flight of the Phoenix and The War of the Worlds, so we’re glad to see her again.

I, Frankenstein is based on the graphic novel by actor/screenwriter/comic book writer Kevin Grevioux (actor: Tim Burton’s Planet of the Apes, Underworld series, The Mask, Steel, Congo, Charmed, Angel, Batman Forever, Alien Nation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine; screenwriting: Underworld series; comic books: Marvel New Warriors, The Phantom, Mandrake the Magician).

Count the flying demons in this new trailer for I, Frankenstein: