I, Frankenstein IMAX 3D **

A so-so stab at creating another "Underworld," unfortunately "I, Frankenstein" is a dry and humorless exercise in myth-making. There are some visually arresting moments, especially in the battle scenes, and the thrill of flying with gargoyles, so the IMAX and 3D are not totally wasted.

As in "Underworld," which shares a writer and three producers with this film, there is a war hidden from humans that has gone on for centuries. This one is between the demons from below, and God's army of flying gargoyles based in a cathedral. Both sides can pass for human, and seldom show their true identities.

Eckhart performs well in the many fight scenes, and got lean and ripped for the part, but his clenched teeth one-note performance fails to convey the torment of the creature that the writers were aiming for. Bill Nighy plays a sophisticated demon in an expensive suit quite well. Yvonne Strahovski provides a decorative presence as a lovely doctor and researcher caught up unawares in the demons' plot, and Miranda Otto projects a regal decisiveness as the queen of the gargoyles.