The Concept of the Monster in "I, Frankenstein"

           I was inspired to see the new I, Frankenstein movie yesterday because of all my newly gained knowledge of the Mary Shelley’s story, the (1931) film, and the (1994) Robert De Niro version. The new movie takes place in modern day after 200 something years after the monster was created. This movie acts as if the monster went on living after Victor’s death as a mortal that doesn’t age. I thought it was bad ass and a fun film to watch. It was interesting to see how the new movie tried to remove the stigma of Frankenstein’s creation as being viewed as a monster. The monster had a very similar background story as the monster in Mary Shelly's story minus a few details, and I believe a lot of details were left out or altered to make the monster/creation more likable and heroic as we mentioned in class. The part about Robert Walton was left out, and it was completely from the monster's point of view. The monster told how he was created by Victor and how he regretted creating him afterwards, but in this version, Victor immediately tried to kill his creation, which makes us see Victor as cruel. The monster explained that since Victor tried to take his life it was only fair for him to take the life of Victor’s wife in exchange. Victor enraged by his wife’s death chased the monster until he died. There was no mention of how the monster also killed Victor’s younger brother like in the book. I'm sure it was left out because that would make him too unlikable/monstrous to be the hero. The new movie also threw in a war between demons and gargoyles, which Adam (the name given to the monster) becomes a part of. The gargoyle queen (who has a direct link to the arch angels) excused the violet action of Adam killing Elizabeth because he was alone and emotional, and was not given any direction on how to handle his powerful emotions, which makes Adam seem more human. She also gave him his name and told the other gargoyles in the order to re-frame from referring to Adam as “it” saying that Adam is a man, and that all life no matter how it was created was special. All these aspects and alterations make this new version of the monster more sympathetic and likable so that an audience can view him as a hero. *Spoiler Alert* Adam doesn't have a soul at the beginning of the movie, but at the end he obtains one after acting heroically and saving mankind. This version completely changes the outlook of the creation, and I believe is successful in making the monstrous creation into a hero.