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Surprise, surprise, this one's received a mixed bag from critics & it's all down to snobbery.
There's always been a certain disdain about comic-book films; Batman, The Punisher,
the Evil Dead series (& pretty much all of Sam Raimi's early output), Blade, Sleepy Hollow,
X-Men and no doubt the upcoming Spiderman film too. 'Serious critics' can't/won't take comic book
adaptations/comic-book style movies
seriously, no matter how good they are, yet the same 'serious critics' are more than happy to
commend lacklustre tripe like (Mel Gibson's) The Patriot, Armageddon & Traffic as incredible feats
of realism.
Let's get something straight: movies are escapism. Plain and simple. None of the above could be
classed as 'films' (Steven Soderbergh please note: employing overexposed grainy filmstock does
not make a movie any more real) - they are all popcorn. Let's be honest, eh?
Comic book adaptations & comic-book type movies don't suffer any pretentions about what
they are and what they are trying to do and this is often why lower budget,
escapist movies like The Punisher or Evil Dead 2 possess far more substance and
intelligence than grandiose, snobbier efforts like Titanic or Braveheart.
So getting to the point, From Hell is a comic-book movie. A no-brainer with brains. The camerawork
is smart, the recreation of 19th Century London is superbly gothic (if a little clean),
the script is tight and action constantly amusing. The acting ranges from the sure-footed
(Ian's Richardson & Holme, Robbie Coltrane, Ralph Ineson & Johnny Depp) to the bandy-legged
(Heather Graham is awful) but like I said, this is not rocket science. Once you get over the
odd accents, Depp's extraneous tattoos & a distinct abundance of "unfortunates" with excellent dentists,
the film is a worthwhile, gimmicky & blood curdling effort that kills 2 hours excitingly &
efficiently enough.
Alot has been said about the blood 'n' guts but to be fair the violence ambles between comicly
graphic & insinuation & both of these are usually flashed across the screen so quickly it's hard
to make anything out. Indeed, From Hell is more fine English
romp than slasher epic & offers a distinct toning down of said graphicism compared to the
harsh realism of the Hughes Bros other urban thriller, the outstanding Menace2Society.
The script digs up and patches together various Ripper conspiracies & even edges into Sherlock
Holmes territory at times resulting in a new & intriguing
answer to history's most famous, unsolved murder case and manages to deliver an (overlong, tacked
on) ending to please everyone from Hollywood execs to movie buffs to die hard Ripper fans.
Pure escapism. Comic-book snobs need not apply.
RATING: (c)Limer 2002
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From Hell (Cinema: February 2002)
