NZIFF reveal details of Autumn Events

NZIFF reveal details of Autumn Events

Some good news as we head in Autumn - the line up for Autumn Events is here. And tickets are on sale tomorrow....

NZIFF AUTUMN EVENTS

Classic Movies in April and May

Astaire. Brando. Hepburn. Herzog. Miyazaki. Orson Welles. NZIFF presents legends of the giant screen this Autumn.

 NZIFF presents fabulous film events this Autumn at The Civic in Auckland, Embassy in Wellington, Regent Dunedin, MTG Hawke’s Bay, and Hoyts Riccarton in Christchurch. From the curators of the New Zealand International Film Festival comes a weekend line-up of classic films made to be seen on the magnificent cinema screen.

NZIFF Autumn Events in Auckland screen from Friday 11 April through to Sunday 13 April at The Civic. Tickets on sale directly from Ticketmaster (www.ticketmaster.co.nz) from Friday 14 February.

NZIFF Autumn Events in Wellington will screen across three weekends at the Embassy Theatre in April, starting on Saturday 12 April. Tickets on sale directly from the Embassy Theatre. On sale date to be advised.

NZIFF Autumn Events in Dunedin screen on Saturday 12 April and Sunday 13 April at the Regent Dunedin. Tickets on sale directly from the Regent Dunedin. On sale date to be advised.

NZIFF Autumn Events in Napier will screen across three weekends at the MTG Theatre in April, starting on Saturday 12 April. Tickets on sale directly from Ticketek. On sale date to be advised.

NZIFF Autumn Events in Christchurch will screen across three weekends at Hoyts Riccarton in May, starting on Saturday 3 May. Tickets on sale directly from Hoyts Riccarton. On sale date to be advised.

NZIFF Autumn Events URL: www.nziff.co.nz/autumn-events

The films screening in NZIFF Autumn Events 2014

Aguirre, the Wrath of God (Auckland and Wellington only)

Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes, West Germany 1972

Director/Screenplay: Werner Herzog

In German with English subtitles

Once seen, never forgotten, this hallucinatory epic of Spanish conquistadors unhinged in the Amazon is the definitive Werner Herzog expedition to the edge.  It was also the first of his collaborations with his legendary “best fiend”, actor Klaus Kinski.

“With a new restoration, the sound of gobs being smacked will resound in cinemas once again. It looks more magnificent and mad than ever.” — Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

Sessions:

Saturday 12 April, 8.15 pm, The Civic, AUCKLAND

Sunday 20 April, 6.00 pm, Embassy WELLINGTON

URL http://www.nziff.co.nz/autumn-events/film/aguirre-the-wrath-of-god

Funny Face

USA 1957

Director: Stanley Donen

A charming confection of 50s vogues, this musical casts Audrey Hepburn as a brainy West Village bookshop manager and Fred Astaire as the fashion photographer whose camera (not to mention a trip to Paris and some fabulous Givenchy gowns) might just transform her into a runway star.

“The musical that dares to rhyme Sartre with Montmartre, Funny Face knocks most other musicals off the screen for its visual beauty, its witty panache, and its totally uncalculating charm.”— Time Out Film Guide

Sessions:

Friday 11 April, 1.00 pm, The Civic, AUCKLAND

Saturday 12 April, 2.15 pm, Regent DUNEDIN

Sunday 13 April, 1.00 pm, The Civic, AUCKLAND

Saturday 19 April, 6.00 pm, Embassy WELLINGTON

Saturday 26 April, 2.15 pm, MTG Theatre NAPIER

Sunday 18 May, 2.15 pm, Hoyts Riccarton CHRISTCHURCH

URL http://www.nziff.co.nz/autumn-events/film/funny-face

Lawrence of Arabia (Napier, Dunedin, Christchurch only)

UK/USA 1962

Director: David Lean

Festivals: Cannes (Classics), London 2012

4K DCP

David Lean’s 1962 biopic remains the benchmark in epic action cinema: literate, dynamic and visually stupendous. Dashing performances by Peter O’Toole and Omar Sharif defined the two young actors for life.

“There are no intelligent epics like this today and, because of computer-generated effects, it's unlikely that there ever will be again.”  — Philip French, The Observer

Sessions:

Sunday 13 April, 1.30 pm, Regent DUNEDIN

Sunday 27 April, 2.15 pm, MTG Theatre NAPIER

Sunday 11 May, 2.15 pm, Hoyts Riccarton CHRISTCHURCH

URL http://www.nziff.co.nz/autumn-events/film/lawrence-of-arabia

On The Waterfront

USA 1954

Director: Elia Kazan

Winner, Eight Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor

4K DCP

Marlon Brando mesmerises in the indelible performance that revolutionised big-screen acting 60 years ago and is still heart-breaking today.

“As unspoiled in its key elements as the day it was made, On the Waterfront is indisputably one of the great American films.” — Kenneth Turan, LA Times

Sessions:

Friday 11 April, 4.00 pm, The Civic, AUCKLAND

Saturday 12 April, 8.15 pm, Regent DUNEDIN

Sunday 13 April, 3.30 pm, The Civic, AUCKLAND

Saturday 19 April, 6.00 pm, MTG Theatre NAPIER

Sunday 27 April, 4.00 pm, Embassy WELLINGTON

Saturday 10 May, 6.00 pm, Hoyts Riccarton CHRISTCHURCH

URL http://www.nziff.co.nz/autumn-events/film/on-the-waterfront

The Third Man

UK 1949

Director/Producer: Carol Reed

Ranked first in the British Film Institute’s end-of-century survey of British cinema, The Third Man is film noir with rare pedigree: director Carol Reed and actor Orson Welles bring sinister flamboyance to novelist Graham Greene’s literate, perfectly structured thriller script.

“Of all the movies I have seen, this one most completely embodies the romance of going to the movies.” — Roger Ebert

Sessions:

Saturday 12 April, 6.00 pm, The Civic, AUCKLAND

Saturday 12 April, 6.00 pm, Regent DUNEDIN

Saturday 12 April, 6.00 pm, MTG Theatre NAPIER

Saturday 12 April, 6.00 pm, Embassy WELLINGTON

Saturday 3 May, 6.00 pm, Hoyts Riccarton CHRISTCHURCH

URL http://www.nziff.co.nz/autumn-events/film/the-third-man

The Wind Rises

Kaze tachinu, Japan 2013

Director: Miyazaki Hayao

In Japanese, French, German and Italian, with English subtitles

Nominated, Best Animated Feature, Academy Awards 2014

The great Japanese animator Miyazaki Hayao has announced his retirement and if he sticks to his word, he will have gone out on a sublime note. The Wind Rises is a fictionalised portrait of the brilliant aeronautical engineer Horikoshi Jiro and the two loves of his life: his work, and his ailing wife, Nahoko.

“Marked by flights of incredible visual fancy… Miyazaki’s hauntingly beautiful historical epic draws a sober portrait of Japan between the two World Wars.” — Scott Foundas, Variety

Sessions:

Saturday 12 April, 2.30 pm, Dubbed Version The Civic, AUCKLAND

Sunday 13 April, 6.00 pm, Subtitled Version The Civic, AUCKLAND

Sunday 13 April, 6.00 pm, Subtitled Version, MTG Theatre NAPIER

Sunday 13 April, 6.00 pm, Subtitled Version, Embassy WELLINGTON

Sunday 13 April, 6.30 pm, Subtitled Version, Regent DUNEDIN

Sunday 4 May, 6.00 pm, Subtitled Version, Hoyts Riccarton CHRISTCHURCH

URL http://www.nziff.co.nz/autumn-events/film/the-wind-rises-dub

URL http://www.nziff.co.nz/autumn-events/film/the-wind-rises

NZIFF Autumn Events dates and venues around New Zealand

Auckland

Screenings at The Civic

Friday 11 April through to Sunday 13 April

Wellington

Screenings at the Embassy

Saturday 12 April

Sunday 13 April

Saturday 19 April and Sunday 20 April

Sunday 27 April

Napier

Screenings at the MTG Hawke’s Bay

Saturday 12 April and Sunday 13 April

Saturday 19 April

Saturday 26 April and Sunday 27 April

Dunedin

Screenings at the Regent Dunedin

Saturday 12 April and Sunday 13 April

Christchurch

Screenings at Hoyts Riccarton

Saturday 3 May and Sunday 4 May

Saturday 10 May and Sunday 11 May

Sunday 18 May

Auckland tickets for all screenings at The Civic are on sale through Ticketmaster from 9am on Friday 14 February. For ticketing information visit www.ticketmaster.co.nz. The ticket on sale date for all other regions is to be advised.

Infamous Second Son: PS4 Hands On Preview

Infamous: Second Son: PS4 Hands On Preview

There's no denying there's pressure on Infamous: Second Son.

When the PlayStation 4 launched last year, there was little on hand in the way of next-gen launch titles with Watch_Dogs and Drive Club being put back on the release slate. It meant that there was really only Knack and Killzone: Shadow Fall on hand to set it all off with other titles being upgraded from prior releases.

So, it's now up to the March release of Infamous: Second Son to quell some of the naysayers who were unhappy with the launch slate.

And based on the demo that I played this week at PlayStation HQ, they will be asking to have their opinions heated up and served to them on a plate.

Infamous: Second Son is a stand alone title with little links currently evident to the original protagonist, Cole, from the Infamous series. Those games were more than enjoyable with moral decisions serving to propel the gameplay along - but it also gave you a chance to take the high moral ground or kick some ass (and ensured a second playthrough as well).

This latest lives in the same world, but offers a new entry point to those who've not played the game before. (But promises nods to the worlds previously played, if you're so inclined)

You play as Delsin Rowe (voiced by the ever brilliant Troy Baker), a kind of street punk, graffiti artist. Given conduit abilities after an accident, Delsin's discovering his new powers in Seattle - and facing conflict from his brother, a cop called Reggie, who's trying to keep him on the right side of the path.

As the demo begins, Delsin and Reggie have discovered another Conduit named Fetch, a pink haired, nose ringed punk girl and are debating whether to save her or leave her locked up. This is the first of the moral decisions faced by Delsin and by taking the path to Redeem Fetch first up, you're plunged into a dockside mission to rid the area of drug dealers.

It's the first interesting connection that Infamous: Second Son rolls out - as the choice you make changes the narrative and the cut scenes as well - but whether mixing up good and bad changes the story path through out, we've yet to see.

The dockside mission essentially gives you a chance to flex your muscles as Delsin and brings out the combat element of the game as you unleash seven shades of hell on the bad guys. Ploughing through the air and using a neon draining capability, Delsin's abilities (or afflictions as his brother terms them) are pretty obvious pretty quickly. His weapon of choice is a neon lance which pummels the baddies into submission (and there are a lot of these in this first mission). Melee attacks, hurling smoke bombs and rushing up buildings give the game a bit of a rush but don't feel like a massive departure from the first two games - though, when you've got a winning formula, why would you? It's really in the graphics that this game starts to soar though - beautiful crisp neon colours give it an edge in the dark city of Seattle and leap vibrantly off the screen as they hang there. It's a visually impeccable touch which adds a lot to the feel of Second Son.

While the houseboats search proves to be easy enough once you get the hang of it (kill the dealers, tag the houseboats, let anyone out who's in there), the tantalising glimpse of Delsin's new powers at the end of the level, a radiant sweep, offers a more epic edge to the game. Sadly, I didn't get to see the full effect as the screen faded to black....

Looping back to the same cut scene, the chance is given to Corrupt Fetch and this is really where the game starts to kick loose and you get to unleash the bad side of your psyche. After a spat with Reggie, the pair decide to take on those who are protesting about the Conduits and teach them a lesson - cue a similar hunt to the houseboats (but with do-gooders squarely in your sights) as you leap round through the air, and just melee whatever you want.

Interestingly enough, the decision to go rogue puts you into conflict with yellow army types known as the DUP, an oppressive bunch who appear to have some powers as well. These manifest in them leaping around and employing rock-like weapons to lock you into the ground (a kind of concrete boots) before shooting you.

It's here you have to employ a bit of strategy - taking too much fire means Delsin's ability to fast heal drops off and you risk death if you don't simply run away. Also, tougher bad guys mean using the environment to your advantage - and the chance to wreak havoc means that anything goes. Just occasionally, this demo struggled with the camera angles on the conflict, meaning Delsin was super-imposed by something on the street, blocking my ability to see and fight. It's a niggle - and one which I hope will be ironed out in the final game next month. It ends with another glimpse of a new power, the Orbital drop, before fading to black....

While there was no option to play Fetch, there's no word yet that that is permanent - but it's to be hoped some iteration of the game will proffer up that chance, either at launch or in DLC. However, Fetch appears to work with Delsin in both missions, shooting from afar to take out baddies and that's a nice touch.

Overall, Infamous: Second Son's demo hints at greatness to come on the PS4. The moral compass is once more in danger of swinging either way in the game and the graphics hint at an impressive next gen experience that's likely to draw off the naysayers. I'm hoping the story proves as similarly engaging as the first two games because that's what will keep many playing on - though based on the combat of these two missions, there's a hell of a lot of fun and deep gameplay to be had from the upcoming release.

Either way, sign me up as a conduit, because I'm hellishly excited to see what Sucker Punch are bringing to the PS4 and the Infamous series.

Infamous Second Son hits PS4 in March

Winter's Tale: Movie Review

Winter's Tale: Movie Review

Cast: Colin Farrell, Russell Crowe, Will Smith, Jessica Brown Findlay, William Hurt, Jennifer Connelly
Director: Akiva Goldsman

Ah, Valentine's Day - the time of year when syrupy mush is served up to the lovelorn cinematic masses so they can snuggle up to their beloved and leave with warm fuzzies.

The latest entrant into the paean is an adaptation of the 1983 Mark Helprin book set in a mythic New York City where demons roam in human form, taking down humans and advancing the fight of good vs evil.

Farrell plays Peter Lake, an Irish orphan, who's living a life of thieving and getting by in 1916 New York. But he's angered the boss of a mob, Pearly Soames (Russell Crowe in dead eyed Irish accent mode) and has a price on his head.

It all changes for Lake though, when he meets the consumption-ridden Beverley Penn (Downton Abbey's Lady Sybil aka Jessica Brown Findlay) and falls in love. But when tragedy strikes, Lake finds himself in 2014 New York with another chance to redeem himself....and give it all for love again.

Winter's Tale starts with a plummy British voiceover explaining the virtues of the stars and how the angels are born and goes downhill from there pretty quickly.

Mixing in a smattering of the mystical into a dour film, it very rarely stops to offer any kind of real explanation of what's going on or make you believe in the truly implausible romance between Beverley and Peter (as they fall for each other over a cup of tea). It's supposed to mix in magic thanks to a white horse guardian who appears to Peter at a time of need and can fly away, but there's no sense of it ever really soaring in any shape or form.

Dreary performances (with the exception of Brown Findlay, whose luminescence and lively eyes light up the screen) taint the movie and rob it of any feeling other than of actors on auto-pilot. Farrell looks non-plussed in the moments that he's not trying desperately to emote as he pours tears from under his caterpillar like eyebrows; even he struggles with getting any kind of grasp of what's going on; Crowe looks constipated as he tries to glower as an angry demon; Smith crops up as Lucifer (!) and seems completely lost and Connelly is totally wasted and wishy washy as a mom whose child has cancer in the present day segment of the movie.

Perhaps the worst part of this is that a kiss from Farrell's character evidently can cure child of said illness, a move that feels crass, badly written and executed on screen - and rankles you even more in the final moments. Throw in some shonky CGI for the flying horse and it looks as if you've got a contender for one of the worst romantic movies of all time. Even with heavy handed talk of miracles laid on in spades, and utter tosh in the voiceovers talking of the great design of life, there's not even a remote hint of subtle sentimentality coming into play.

But here's the thing with Winter's Tale - there's just no emotion or feeling to it whatsoever, leaving you more with the impression that you've just wasted 2 hours of your life thanks to a cloying, confusing narrative that doesn't play up the eternal love angle, it simply doesn't seem to know what story it really wants to tell. It relies on wild leaps of faith from the audience throughout, and doesn't reward them for taking the chance or the journey. It's a fantasy movie without any of the fantastical.

And that's the cruellest blow possible on a day when love is supposed to reign supreme.

Rating:

Inside Llewyn Davis: Movie Review

Inside Llewyn Davis: Movie Review

Cast: Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, A ginger cat, Justin Timberlake, John Goodman
Director: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen

The Coen Brothers return to the movies with a ramshackle week in the life of a young folk singer and a reminder that life's journey doesn't always take the straightest path toward destiny.

A bearded, sad-eyed Oscar Isaac plays Llewyn Davis, a singer who's trying to make it in the Greenwich Village scene of 1961 but failing to break through and falling deeper into self-doubt as he shambles from one uncertain night to the next.

Complicating his life are an unexpected pregnancy with Carey Mulligan's Jean (one of the places where Davis crashes), the lack of definitive work, a manager who appears to never pass any money on and a cruel winter. Even with a guitar slung on his back, Llewyn is facing his darkest days yet as he sets out to audition for a music mogul in Chicago, with nothing but misfits, biting cold, crippling hunger, and a ginger cat for company...

Inside Llewyn Davis is a film that soars on many levels - from the understated yet totally relatable Oscar Isaac as Davis, who nails every desperate scene with a quiet frustration as the thwarted artist, to the ragtag group of misfits who drift in and out of his life, the Coens have brought together a cyclical film that encapsulates the life of the artist as they move from uncertainty to tantalising hope.

But the Coens haven't lost any of their playfulness by doing this (even if they've dialled it back) - a recurring motif of a ginger cat who likes to travel (and whose name reveal at the end of the movie is a delicious treat), a cameo from John Goodman as a jazz singer who steals the scene he's in as a brute of an over-confident man who's the antithesis to Isaac's quietly frustrated Davis to Justin Timberlake's jumper-wearing oblivious to everything around him folk singer, there's something to love in almost every scene.

And that's without mentioning the rich, soulful soundtrack that is a perfect representation of the times - even down to the final appearance of a certain singer who kicked off the folk scene at that time. The songs range from the heartbreakingly frank (Oh Hang Me) to the verging-on-popsong-parody (Please Mr Kennedy) and are the perfect side dish, peppered as they are throughout. Drab colours and a washed out look to the film add to the vibe of the 60s Greenwich scene.

Inside Llewyn Davis feels exactly how it is to be a struggling artist, every scene reeks of quiet desperation and utter despondency as Davis goes from one uncertain moment to the next. When his eventual dark moment of the soul arrives, Isaac completely and heartbreakingly sells it with his sad tired eyes - fulfilling the melancholy almost maudlin vibe of what's already transpired as the soul crushing lows come to fruition. Particularly devastating is the scene where Davis pours his heart out with the guitar to a producer who simply dismisses him with the words "I don't see any money in it".

The sombre tone of this ramshackle road movie of the soul is beautifully played, though Davis is nothing more than a melancholic loner on this journey; his interactions with the likes of Jane and Timberlake's Jim merely emphasising that he doesn't fit in with them, an artist doomed to go his own lonely way - even the ginger cat leaves him as soon as the chance arises. If there are loose ends strewn here and there, it's symptomatic of how Davis comes and goes in people's lives more than poor writing or plotting.

Inside Llewyn Davis leaves you uncertain as to whether Davis is the real talent, destined to make it when the scene eventually breaks through or if he'll crack under the growing pressure of reality; it's a perfect portrait of someone suffering for their art - but the Coen brothers have ensured this journey is as far away from suffering as is remotely possible. It's a gorgeous film, a true testament to their skills as story-tellers and also their actors.

You can't afford not to see this quiet little masterpiece.

Rating:

Blue Is The Warmest Colour: Movie Review

Blue Is The Warmest Colour: Movie Review

Cast: Lea Seydoux, Adele Exarchpoulos
Director: Abdellatif Kechiche

It won the Palme D'Or at Cannes this year, garnered divisive word of mouth and then promptly disappeared amid talk the director wasn't happy with the cut and wanted to clean it up.

Now, with 3 hours and 7 minutes under its belt, Blue Is The Warmest Colour emerges for a fully-fledged cinematic release after discussions of the gruelling set conditions its stars had to endure.

Exarchpoulos stars as Adele, a 15 year old art student, living with her parents in a grey and overcast French town. She's trying to find her place in the world and despite hooking up with a senior who's the boy everyone wants, she's not happy. A fleeting glimpse of a blue haired girl throws her into a daze and she can't stop thinking of her - so, Adele sets out to the gay clubs to find the girl, Emma (played by Lea Seydoux).

Eventually the pair meet and Adele's thrown into a world of self-discovery, sexual awakening and a chance to come of age. But the path to true love and happiness is never an easy one as time weaves back and forth in this tale.

Blue Is The Warmest Colour is an interesting, if over-long story with some interesting narrative choices but some decisions which leave you scratching your head.

The film's already gained notoriety for its 10 minute long sex scene between Adele Exarchpoulos and Lea Seydoux that leaves nothing to the imagination - and neither does the camera, as it almost drools over the naked writhing flesh of the pair, lingering in close ups and perhaps giving you more of a sense of voyeurism than any real tenderness. (Though Kechiche spends a lot of the film focusing on close ups of his actors - maybe a bit too much time - which gives it an alarming lack of intimacy)

Elsewhere, the story is fine - though an expeditious edit in places of the script and the final cut could have substantially helped. In terms of the coming of age of Adele, it's exactly the story you'd expect - girl finds love, girl finds jealousy, girl makes mistakes and tries to atone for them - there's nothing inspiringly original here on that front.

Some of the problems come with characters brought in and simply used once before being dismissed - Adele's friends who form an important start of the first 30 minutes are dispensed with when their need is done. Worst though, is the use of the parents. Initially they're brought into symbolise a cultural difference and naive innocence between Adele and Emma; with Adele being unaware of oysters and trying them at Emma's house (oh, the lack of subtlety and overt subtext) during one repaste. When the meal favour is returned at Adele's, she tries simpler food and her parents are unaware of her sexual leaning - a dramatic tension that's strongly hinted at and dropped without warning. Frustrations like this come and go during the three hour run.

What is impressive though is Adele Exarchpoulos as the doe-eyed naif; she makes the large part of her journey and awakening feel real and heartbreaking when it counts; likewise, to a lesser degree Seydoux convinces as the blue haired Emma, who's more sure of herself and knows what she wants.

Blue is the Warmest Colour has its highs and narrative lows; while it captures the heartbreaking realities of coming of age nicely in some parts, the director's choices and at times meandering narrative unfortunately make the three hour paean to love an at times hard slog, but nevertheless rewarding because of its strong central performances.

Rating:

15 minute preview of Game Of Thrones Season 4 is released

15 minute preview of Game Of Thrones Season 4 is released

Good news for fans of Westeros.

A 15 minute preview of Game Of Thrones Season 4 has been released.

Game of Thrones bows on HBO April 6th.

I, Frankenstein: Movie Review

I, Frankenstein: Movie Review

Cast: Aaron Eckhart, Bill Nighy, Yvonne Strahovski, Miranda Otto, Jai Courtney
Director: Stuart Beattie

Based on a graphic novel by one of the creators of the Underworld series Kevin Grevioux, I, Frankenstein stars Aaron Eckhart as the titular creature.

200 years after he was created and after he got revenge on those who brought him into this world, Dr Frankenstein's creature (Adam as he's named) finds himself suddenly in the middle of an age old war, which could determine the fate of humanity.

On the one side is the Gargoyle Race - and on the others, the demons.

But when the demons get word that Adam could hold the key to their tipping the balance, the fight for Adam and the notes from his creator which brought him to life intensifies...

I Frankenstein is quite simply, a fairly bad B movie masquerading as something wanting to be more.

Infused with sullen and emotionless characters, it's hard to care about any of the fight going on or any of the combatants.

Aaron Eckhart skulks about as the creature, decked out in hobo gear, scars and guyliner and looking like someone's stolen his chocolate milk. While trying to effect a Batman style growl, he's effectively given the creature no unique selling point and a way to stand out from among the grim, dark FX that are placed all over the film. Granted, Frankenstein's monster is trying to find his place in the world, but Eckhart never quite nails that tortured alienation or the distance from any of the human or creatures within the world created.

Bill Nighy throws in another version of the character he played in Underworld and chews a bit of the scenery while doing so as the demon bad guy; and Chuck star Yvonne Strahovski gives the English accent a bit of a mangling as the scientist trying to make sense of it all. Miranda Otto is probably the worst offender though - through an aloof performance as the Queen of the Gargoyles, you don't feel any sympathy with their plight or a sense this battle's been going on for centuries.

Nobody's expecting miracles in a film like this - merely seeking a distraction and some FX heavy action sequences. Beattie manages some impressive FX for despatching the demons (with swirls of fire filling up the screen) but a ponderous over-reliance on using too much slow mo and bullet time style makes each sequence feel like a turgid rehash of the previous one.

Along with lumpen, leaden wooden dialogue, delivered soullessly by all the players, I Frankenstein feels like Comic Book 101 - the dialogue may work in the panels but in the 3D world and despite some visual directorial flourishes, it barely registers anything other than a groan of unoriginality. In fact it would be better titled Y, Frankenstein...

Rating: