Perhaps someday adaptations of Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel Frankenstein will cease. However, that day seems far off, and 2014’s I, Frankenstein delivers another take on the topic.

In 1795, Dr. Victor Frankenstein (Aden Young) creates a creature out of dead body parts. When he decides this wasn’t a great idea, the monster (Aaron Eckhart) goes on a violent rampage.

This leaves Victor dead and his creation in isolation. Eventually named “Adam” by a group of demon-hunting gargoyles, the creature returns to civilization to help fend off a potential threat to humanity.

On the case for this Blu-ray, a blurb touts the film as being “from the producers of Underworld”. Take that statement to heart, as I, Frankenstein clearly uses the Underworld franchise as its spirit animal.

On one hand, I do applaud the fact I, Frankenstein at least gives us a new spin on the Shelley source. Even before the landmark 1931 James Whale version, the tale saw multiple adaptations, and that number only grew over the subsequent decades.

On the other hand, I, Frankenstein completely spoils its potential to give us an intriguing variation on the well-trodden theme. A muddled mish-mash, the movie comes with virtually no positives beyond its basic premise.

Primarily a screenwriter, I, Frankenstein marked Stuart Beattie’s second – and apparently final – effort as director. I don’t know if this flick’s financial failure harpooned his career behind the camera, but if so, I can’t claim it shows any signs that we missed out on a talented filmmaker.

I won’t call I, Frankenstein genuinely incoherent, but it comes close. We get various competing storylines during which the film tries to mesh the eternal battle between good/evil as well as the modern pursuit of reanimated life and Adam’s attempts to cope with his status.

I, Frankenstein fails to meld these in a concise manner, so it just spits and sputters awkwardly among them. It never quite seems to know where it wants to go, so it winds up as a confused mess.

Again, this seems like a wasted opportunity, as the notion of the original Frankenstein’s monster in the 21st century remains intriguing. However, the movie never finds a good way to exploit this concept, so instead it ends up buried underneath the confused melange of plot points.

I, Frankenstein takes itself awfully seriously and that makes it seem unintentionally silly. I don’t think Beattie and company wanted to create a campy romp, but the film’s ultra-somber nature sends it in that direction.

Granted, one could argue the movie’s themes deserve to be treated this way given their inherent darkness. However, Beattie can’t pull off any sense of real depth and he makes everything so melodramatic that goofiness results.

I, Frankenstein does boast a decent cast, as in addition to Eckhart, we find capable actors like Bill Nighy and Miranda Otto. They can’t do anything to elevate the problematic material, unfortunately.

Toss in clumsy fight scenes as well as terrible computer-generated effects and I, Frankenstein ends up as a near total waste of time. Despite some positive concepts, the final product flops.

I, Frankenstein appears in an aspect ratio of 2.40:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. No issues developed in this pleasing presentation.

Sharpness seemed positive. A smidgen of softness appeared at times, but the majority of the movie displayed clear, accurate images.

No signs of shimmering or jaggies occurred, and the movie lacked edge haloes. Print flaws also failed to mar the transfer.

The film focused on a mix of blue and amber. Within those parameters, the hues looked appropriate.

Blacks were dark and tight, while shadows showed good clarity. Overall, this was a positive image that deserved a “B+”.

As for the DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of I, Frankenstein, it seemed positive. This meant that the soundscape opened up pretty well for its action scenes.

The mix offered a nice array of fight sequences, and those managed to expand the horizons in a compelling manner, as various elements meshed well and filled the room. Music showed good presence as well, so this turned into a very good soundscape.

Audio quality remained strong, with speech that sounded concise and distinctive. Music showed nice range and heft.

Effects appeared accurate and full, with deep bass response. The soundtrack brought a good sense of sizzle to the proceedings.

This package also includes a 3D version of I, Frankenstein. How does it compare to the 2D presentation?

Picture quality seemed similar. The 3D occasionally looked a smidgen softer but the two largely looked the same.

As for stereo elements, the 3D fared best in its aerial moments. However, much of the movie seemed like “2.5D” and gave off a “pop-up book” vibe that didn’t feel especially natural.

On one hand, I can’t find any reason not to view the 3D version if your TV allows. On the other, I don’t see anything here to make me actively recommend that presentation.

The disc includes two separate audio commentaries, the first of which comes from writer/director Stuart Beattie. He provides a running, screen-specific look at how he came to the project, story/characters/influences, cast and performances, sets and locations, weapons, stunts and action, various effects, and related domains.

Beattie makes this a fine chat. He covers a solid array of topics and does so in an engaging manner.

For the second commentary, we hear from filmmakers Gary Lucchesi, Richard Wright, James McQuaide and Kevin Grevioux. All four sit together for their running, screen-specific discussion of

Because the package refers to these folks as “filmmakers”, one might assume they examined the movie from an independent POV and didn’t work on I, Frankenstein. That proves inaccurate, as all participated in its creation.

Grevioux wrote the graphic novel on which the movie comes based and he also acts in the film. McQuaide worked as visual effects supervisor while Lucchesi and Wright served as producers.

So why does the disc bill them as “filmmakers” and not under their more specific roles? No idea, but I won’t fight city hall.

In any case, the track tends to cover topics similar to those Beattie discussed, albeit from differing points of view. We also hear more about effects as well as domains such as the movie’s 3D conversion.

These allow the commentary to become reasonably informative despite some repetition with Beattie’s chat. I do find it disappointing that we don’t hear much from Grevioux since he wrote the source material.

Two featurettes follow, and Creating a Monster runs 13 minutes. It offers notes from Beattie, McQuaide, makeup effects supervisors Nick Nicolaou and Paul Katte, costume designer Cappi Ireland, production designer Michelle McGahey, director of photography Ross Emery,

The reel looks at the design of Adam and other non-human characters and various aspects of their creation along with sets and photography. It gives us a good little view of the work involved.

Frankenstein’s Creatures goes for 14 minutes, 18 seconds. Here we get info from Grevioux, Beattie, Lucchesi, Wright, producers Andrew Mason and Tom Rosenberg, and actors Aaron Eckhart, Bill Nighy, Miranda Otto, Jai Courtenay and Yvonne Strahovski.

“Creatures” discusses story/characters as well as cast and performances and sets/locations. This becomes a decent overview of the topics, albeit one that feels fairly superficial.

The disc opens with ads for Daybreakers, Conan the Barbarian (2011) and The Crow. We also get a trailer for I, Frankenstein.

The set also includes a DVD copy of the film. It provides the same extras as the Blu-ray.

As an update on an oft-adapted character, I, Frankenstein comes with the potential to provide a thrilling update. Instead, it brings a campy and incoherent mess. The Blu-ray comes with positive picture and audio as well as a mix of supplements. While this turns into a good release, the movie itself stinks.