From Hell

Saw it today. Overall, I enjoyed it thoroughly. It seemed very long, and kinda dragged at bits. But overall, it was great. I can't post much now, in a hurry, but I'll post more later.

I say go see it. GO SEE IT NOW!

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I saw this tonight. I liked it, it was ok I guess. Not as good as I hoped it would be though . Ian Holm is AWESOME. Overall, it's a fun night at the theater, but I don't think a lot of people will enjoy it as much as I did.

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**** the Lakers!

I'd say From Hell is watchable and worth seeing at matinee prices for anyone interested, but it doesn't come anywhere close to that next level of filmmaking, where average or good films start turning into great ones.

From Hell is directed by The Hughes Brothers, who's previous credits are Menace II Society, Dead Presidents, and American Pimp. Since Albert and Allen Hughes are young and African-American, I was hoping for a fresh perspective on the infamous Jack the Ripper murders.

Knowing From Hell is also an adaptation of Alan Moore's graphic novel, that added another level of expectation for me. Moore's The Watchmen and V for Vendetta are masterpieces, and I had enjoyed From Hell too.

But the resulting movie isn't terribly special. It has some good visuals and the convoluted Ripper conspiracy theory is in tact, but the pacing and character development are off the mark. The sets feel like sets, though not as much CGI and stylization as say Baz Luhrman's recent Moulin Rouge. Still, I never got drawn into the otherworldly aspect they were aiming for.

I've always liked Johnny Depp, and he's solid, despite never quite mastering the accent in a totally convincing manner. I expected him (and the directors) to draw out more of Inspector Abberline's darkness. They also could have had more fun with his Opium-fueled states instead of relying on fairly standard montages, the type you can find in most any Smashing Pumpinks music video.

I can't help but wonder what a clever visualist with a grasp of dark, moody narratives like David Fincher, Darren Aronofsky or even Tim Burton might have done with this material and budget. I do know that The Hughes Bros. never put a stamp on it to make it truly amazing in any respects. There's a slickness and a graphic style to From Hell different from all previous film incarnations of the Ripper story, no doubt, but it isn't enough to make the story feel new or more compelling.

Robbie Coltrane, as Depp's police cohort, steals just about every scene he's in and is easily the most amusing character. But the Streetwalker victims, led by Heather Graham (who is woefully miscast) are very sketchy and not at all worth caring about one way or the other. The various Gentlemen 'suspects' - From Hell is constructed as a mystery, so we only discover Jack's identity near the finale - are all types rather than characters. Ian Holm is good (when isn't he?), I just wish there was more for him to do here. There's even an unnecessary historical cameo by John Merrick (aka The Elephant Man), as if Depp's Inspector were Forrest Gump or Zelig for a moment.

The romance angle feels tacked-on and underdeveloped, another weakness in the narrative and Depp's character motivation. There is no real suspense to speak of, especially if you are familiar with the various popular theories of who Jack the Ripper was. Most importantly, since there is little emotional involvement, there can be little pay-off as it all wraps up (and too neatly).

But it does move forward well enough and didn't feel overlong to me. This version of The Ripper is OK eye candy at a weekend matinee, yet very much misses what it might have been. It is mild entertainment, and nothing more. Too bad.

Grade: C

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"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra

i'm gonna see for myself tomorrow night, dammit!

wish me luck!

Good luck! Even if the movie stinks...have fun watching Johnny in action. Me mum told me it was a tad gruesome...so beware! Bring a strong someone to bury your face into...

Hi all, how y'all doing?

It's not often that I'm moved enough to write about stuff - that's actually a blatant lie! I love the view of my own writing! :0)

BUT

I went to see this last night with my fiance.
I hated it. She loved it.

I think she may be a little biased because she's hopelessly in love with Jonny Depp.

I read Alan Moore's original and hold it as one of the best comics/publications ever written. It really is fantastic & if you haven't read it - read it!

This movie pails into nothing compared with Moore's classic. In fact, I'm offended that the movie claims to be based on Moore's work!

Moore begins his script by stating that ANY retelling of any event is fiction. He cites that if you were to tell someone about a group of people standing at a bus stop, the facts would be distorted, no matter how small a way.
This is in fact true, but you would hope that it was the insignificant things that would be mis-told.
The makers of this movie don't hold of this 'hope'.

They took the basis of the story, twisted it (and therefore the truth), turned it upside down, "Hollywoodified" it and therefore desroyed the most important thing about this re-telling of the 'jack The Ripper' events - The closest we may ever get to the truth!

The story was re-told and changed to suit "dumb" audiences.
- Insp' Abberline was NOT the mystic involved in the Ripper case,

*********SPOILER************
- William Gull did NOT get this close to Abberline and help him in his case to the extent shown in this film.
- Abberline & his Sergeant did NOT roll a barrel of gunpowder at the head of the Special Service.

There were loads more, but the worst, THE absolute worst! Is the claim that Marie escaped alive! And yes, you read right. They didn't even get her name correct, she signed the letter Mary, and everyone called her as such. Her name was Marie kelly.

I'm not 100% sure, but the 'old' way of pronouncing this name in England (of which I have lived 99% of my adult life - and to boot, in East London itself, in fact a stones throw from Whitechapel), would probably be "Mar-ee (MAr as in March)". This comes from an elderly person I used to know baring this name!
But only a little bit of work would be needed to confirm this. Work which the makers of this film, did VERY little!

Even Robbie Coltrain, excellent in other movies and fantastic in his own tv 'detective' series 'Cracker' was not very good and cringeworthy with some cheesy dialogue - "Now don't you two forget. Unless you want to keep walking the beat, you'll speak no word of this to anyone".
Was the dialogue written in the cheesy 60's & 70's???? Sounds like it.

Jonny Depp, is as watchable as ever. His East London accent starts off bad, but improves as the movie doesn't.
His charisma carries him through this film as does his acting ability.

Unfortunately, the last 20 mins of the film decide to change genre and turns into some Hollywood action movie.

RubbishRubbishRubbish!

If you've read moore's book, BE CAREFUL of this excuse for a film.
If you haven't read the book, well, then maybe you'll enjoy it as a bog standard 'Ripper' yarn. No better, but a little bit worse than some other attempts.

Thanks for your time. I'd love to know if I'm the only one who feels like this....

Yeah, Mate, we Yanks saw it last October. As your comments have now been tacked on to our old thread, you can see for yourself what a few of us thought of From Hell.

I thought this film was horrible.

HAHA. Sorry all. Didn't mean to bring up an old film. It's only just been released here.

Some of the comments above are spot on. I agree with most of what's said.

I think it's looking definately like a case of, if you've read the comics, you'll not like the film. If you haven't, you'll like it.

No need to apologize. Welcome to MovieForums.com, spyderbird.

hahah! So true! saw it with my girlfriend and as I was attempting to argue about the bad aspects of the film all I would get was " but Depp had a spot on British accent don't you think?"

It seemed like Graham was out of eastenders - she obviously cut up her lines to stop cocking it all up.

hehe.... I'm glad someone else thought it wasas bad as I did.

I'm in the middle of re-reading the comics again, and I'm seeing even MORE how different & WRONG the movie is!

One of the things I realised was that the POV aspect had completely changed.
Moore's 'From Hell' was written very much from Gull's POV.
We get a chance to look around inside his head. Too see things how HE sees them.

The film told it as any "Hollywood" film would - the handsome, rogue, famous actor lead....

I wouldn't have minded but they should have just called the film:

"Another take on the old ripper murders".

I may have enjoyed it then......... nah!

I quite enjoyed the look of this film, and the performances of Ian Holme and Robbie Coltrane.

It's only really just been released here.

I thought it could have been better, 'twasn't great, but 'twasn't terrible.

In my own opinion.
I haven't read the "publication" though.
Perhaps I should.

Another film (thinking Vanilla Sky and Ocean's 11) that has ended in the wrong place, having had a perfect ending all set up only moments before the final fade out.

Too bad.

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I never saw this film, waiting for the video. Tell me, if you've seen it, how does it play in the light of Patricia Cornwell's theory that Walter Sickert was the killer? Is Sickert in the film at all?




Toose

hey, it's awesome you guys gave alan moore his dues.....

did anyone read the killing joke? i'm biased because i'm such a huge batman fan, but that book rocks on so many levels.

while we're on the topic of comics, i have to recommend 100 bullets. don't think of comic books as being for kids, because i promise you 100 bullets has some of the most mature and sophisticated writing you'll ever lay eyes on. i'll blather on more about it if you care, but suffice it to say it has a really noirish, pulp fiction-y, tarentino feel to it.

looked good but didnt see it.

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Death to Smoochy is my most anticipated movie of 2002.

WHAT AN EXCELLENT ADDITION TO THE THREAD.

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Another high quality post by Fez Wizardo

Don't worry about it, Fez.

i'm not, just experimenting with VB CODE

i rented this movie and i must say that i liked it, it just needed more style. I really liked the green filter.

WHY DID NO ONE SAY THAT BILBO WAS IN THIS MOVIE!!!!!!!!!

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