The Wolf Of Wall Street: Sex, drugs and more sex

Rating: ★★★

©thewolfofwallstreet.com

Since hitting the UK big screen in early 2014, The Wolf Of Wall Street has become a box office sensation, topping both America and the UK. Directed by the great auteur Martin Scorsese and featuring big names such as the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Matthew McConaughey and Jonah Hill; the film was guaranteed to become a huge success. Yet with explicit scenes of sex, swearing and drug taking, the film has caused outrage to many, leading us to question, is this film just one big fantasy orgy or is there more than meets the eye? 

Based on a true story, big-time dreamer Jordan Belfort (DiCaprio) takes on a stockbroker job in Wall Street, looking to rake in dollars and fuel his addiction to money. Here he meets his maverick boss Mark Hanna (McConaughey) who tells him the only way to succeed in this business is through hookers and drugs. So Belfort follows in his footsteps, eventually starting up his own brokerage with pal Donnie (Jonah Hill) - Stratton Oakmont Inc. However, the business is not all above board, scamming small companies, engaging in fraud and money laundering. With the cops becoming ever more suspicious, Belfort and colleagues strive to escape the eyes of the law, with the ever present lure of money preventing a clean break. Inevitability they were caught; Belfort serving his time. 

I, Frankenstein - Adequate at a push

 Rating: ★★

Here comes another sore attempt to take on the old tale of Frankenstein. 

I, Frankenstein (2014), directed by Stuart Beattie (G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra), is a modern twist on the old novel Frankenstein (Mary Shelley, 1818) which simply features a sewn-up dead man brought back to life by a mad scientist. Beattie's modern take is based on the graphic novel I, Frankenstein by Kevin Grevioux. The film features what could be, a reasonable storyline but becomes so far-fetched and yet predictible at the same time, with a ton of action scenes thrown in.

Frankenstein's monster, (Aaron Eckhart, The Dark Knight) which is given the name Adam, is being hunted by demons, lead by Prince Demon, Naberius (Bill Nighy, Love Actually). Naberius's evil plan is to capture Adam and discover the dark secrets behind the creation of a living dead with no soul, so he can give life to thousands of corpses ready and waiting to be posessed by demons. With the help of the Gargoyles, Adam becomes aware of Naberius's plan and seeks to destroy his chances, whilst saving human pretty scientist Terra (Yvonne Strahovski, Dexter). 

The ending of the film is so predictable that you know it's coming ten minutes after the film has started.

In this version of Frankenstein, he is presented moreso as a hero than a monster. This is not exactly the character that we're used to, but all is well and good in the reigning super hero movie generation we are living in. It's the looks of Frankenstein that is one major annoyance in this movie. Just to prove it to you, here is what we all know and imagine when we think of Frankenstein:

©Amanda Stronach

And here is Stuart Beattie's version: 

©rogersmovienation

Eckhart simply looks like an edgier version of himself with a few scars painted across his face, not the living dead who was sewn together and has been alive for over 200 years. To make his character more believable he needs to be more monster-like, so that the audience could then empathise with him and his so-called life.

The demons could also look a bit more horrifying as some of them are quite laughable when they transform, reminds me more of a bad Doctor Who episode.
However, the CGI in the rest of the film is higher quality than what is expected in such a film. The gargoyles especially are well done, looking very realistic and powerful. Beattie has clearly realised the CGI in this movie plays the key part, therefore packing it full of action to entice the action loving, masculine audience. However, it all just becomes too much and leaves you wanting more from the storyline.

It's a shame this film has such a ludicrous storyline because with the casting of such great actors Aaron Eckhart and Bill Nighy, all is lost. I, Frankenstein is merely an adequate film, yet with the open ending of the film there is a chance for a sequel so we can only hope that it gets better.