As each new superhero gets his showcase in Marvel movies, we’re getting more and more lesser known characters pulled from the history of Marvel Comics to meet on the big screen. As we stray away from the actual superhero headliners, the obscure come to the fore. Probably the best of the darker, horror comics can be found in DC Comics, members of Justice League Dark, in recent years including Constantine, Swamp Thing, Zatanna, Deadman, Madame Xanadu, and Shade. But it’s the feel of JLD you’ll find in Brendan Daneen’s Morbius, The Living Vampire: Blood Ties, a new novel in the Titan Books library of novel adaptations of Marvel Comics. Taking place after the origin story of Marvel’s take on a “bat-man,” to be adapted in the pandemic-delayed, big-screen debut of Marvel’s latest monstrosity Morbius starring Jared Leto, this story gives an accounting of that “living vampire” first created 50 years ago in the pages of Spider-Man comics by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane.
I, Frankenstein is a fantasy-horror motion picture released earlier this year, based on a graphic novel by Kevin Grevioux. Starring Aaron Eckhart (The Dark Knight), Bill Nighy (Underworld, Shawn of the Dead, State of Play), Yvonne Strahovski (Chuck), Miranda Otto (Lord of the Rings), and Jai Courtney (A Good Day to Die Hard, Jack Reacher), all signs pointed to the possibility that the film could be minimally watchable. But retellings of classic monster stories are tough to get right. In our ongoing pursuit at borg.com to identify the best of Blu-ray 3D home video we screened I, Frankenstein in Blu-ray 3D. Despite having some pretty stellar 3D special effects, the film unfortunately can’t overcome its thin effort to retell the Frankenstein story.
With creators of Underworld behind the scenes, it’s no wonder this film has the look of that franchise. It also shares the same dark vibe as the respectable and fun monster mash-up Van Helsing. But its clunky twist on Frankenstein’s monster isn’t saved by the serious acting of lead Aaron Eckhart, or the quality bad guy villainy portrayed by Bill Nighy.
Good monster retellings? Try Young Frankenstein (1974), Phantom of the Opera (2004), Van Helsing (2004), the American Werewolf series, Wolf (1994), Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992), The Mummy (1999), and the short-lived Dracula (2013) TV series. These all show how retellings of classic monster stories can be done right.
Nicely done action sequences and fiery explosions? It’s got ’em. Beautifully-rendered, in-your-face 3D? It’s got that, too. And if you only want to watch special effects with the backdrop of a classic, then this may be something for one of those moments.
But I, Frankenstein is about a legion of gargoyles and their gargoyle queen (Miranda Otto) who are in a battle with demons under the control of a demon prince played by Nighy, posing as a modern-day biotech businessman. Nighy’s character wants Dr. Frankenstein’s journal, to be able to resurrect soulless bodies for demons in hell to fill. Otto’s character attempts to recruit Frankenstein (the monster has taken his creator’s name) to her cause, even giving him the rather silly name of Adam (which nobody else ever uses). Hundreds of years after their initial meeting, Frankenstein and the gargoyle queen reunite in the present day (still wearing the same costumes).
We’ve just wound down another year of big movies–from Star Trek Into Darkness to Skyfall to Thor: The Dark World to The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. So what’s on the radar at borg.com for 2014? We think you’ll want to see several of these big sci-fi, fantasy, superhero, and action flicks coming to a screen near you in 2014.*
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit – Jan. 17 – This Tom Clancy spin-off has been pushed out to 2014. Starring Chris Pine and directed by Kenneth Branagh.
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, andErin Brockovich (and almost unrecognizable). He just doesn’t make enough movies for a guy who has so much coolness and charisma.
Following up on yesterday’s rundown of all the Nerd HQ panels, borg.com has all of today’s panels in full from Nerd HQ for you to watch from home if you weren’t one of the 250 people who saw it live at San Diego’s Petco Park, opposite San Diego Comic-Con International today. Nerd HQ offered up even more fun panels including cast member from OrphanBlack–their first Con panel. Note that you may want to skip ahead a few minutes on each video to get to the beginning of the panel.
Enjoy!
First up, the Hannibal panel including series co-star Hugh Dancy:
Next up, the “Mystery” panel, which ended up featuring Chuck’s Zachary Levi, Rob Zazinsky from Pacific Rim, and Firefly’s Alan Tudyk and Nathan Fillion:
When was the last time we saw Aaron Eckhart as lead actor in a movie? As adman Nick Naylor trying to save big tobacco in the brilliant Thank You for Smoking? Eckhart is such a great lead actor-type that you wonder why he isn’t headlining more movies. He’s the guy that had us all wearing “I Believe in Harvey Dent” badges after his performance as Two-Face in The Dark Knight. He drew some critical acclaim for his role opposite Julia Roberts in Erin Brockovich. And he served as a great bad guy opposite Ben Affleck in the superb Philip K. Dick adaptation Paycheck. Finally Echkart gets his own action movie in Erased, a flick whose launch date was originally set for last year but now seems to be finally set for May 10, 2013.
