Wednesday, March 18, 2015

A Johnny Depp Movie About Jack The Ripper

Dear friends,

** This is a review I did a long time ago, on the 27th of February 2011, and published in my previous blog "Paint The Sky". But as you did not read this before, I thought I may share my thoughts with you. Pay attention to spoilers, as I shall be telling you about From Hell**

It is 1888 in London, and the unfortunate poor lead horrifying lives in the city’s deadliest slum, Whitechapel. Harassed by gangs and forced to walk the streets for a living, Mary Kelly and her small group of companions trudge on through this daily misery, their only consolation being that things can’t get any worse. Yet things somehow do when their friend Ann is kidnapped and they are drawn into a conspiracy with links higher up than they could possibly imagine. The kidnapping is soon followed by the gruesome murder of another woman, Polly, and it becomes apparent that they are being hunted down, one by one. Sinister even by Whitechapel standards, the murder grabs the attention of Inspector Fred Abberline, a brilliant yet troubled man whose police work is often aided by his psychic abilities. Abberline becomes deeply involved with the case, which takes on personal meaning to him when he and Mary begin to fall in love…
 
“From Hell” is another Jack-the-Ripper yarn. This time around Johnny Depp plays Inspector Frederick George Abberline, who is investigating the work of a killer carving up the bodies of prostitutes in Whitechapel, London.
***
“From Hell” is a borderline horror/thriller. There is a fantastical element to the story as Depp receives visions of the killings, when “chasing the dragon” (or, in simpler terms, when doped up to his eye-balls). These visions are used to make mad-intuitive leaps on Abberline’s parts to help push along the story-line, as the bodies begin to pile up. Unfortunately the killer is quite obvious as the script provides “red herrings” which are set up in a manner that you know they’re going to be false, so the viewer is “surprised” (or not) when the real killer is revealed. That’s a shame as it removes some of the mystery from the movie when you realise you got it right. There’s also a rather interesting take on the murderer’s reasoning, which is not entirely unwelcome, but does feel somewhat as if they need to pad out the story and distinguish it from other Ripper yarns.
 ***
Johnny Depp kicks ass at this movie, showing us Inspector Fred Abberline similar to a Sherlock Holmes :) He is a very clever character and combined with his sidekick played by  Robbie Coltrane (whom you surely know from Harry Potter as Rubeus Hagrid) – that provides a heckload of fun – they make a perfect pair.
Mary Kelly is a very lovely character played by Heather Graham. The Irish beautiful prostituate that looks like a perfect doll and dresses as such is very appealing but somehow makes you think of her as a lady and not a female practicising her trade…
Anyway… I had to see this movie in 2 separate nights – I stopped at the middle of the movie feeling sick… the images are highly disturbing and it really makes you feel as if you were there, in the dark streets of London…
Overall :) it is a pleasant Johnny Depp movie. And it is ALWAYS a pleasure to see Johnny work his magic on the screen ;)

Yours truly,
A LadyBug Very Much Addicted To Johnny Depp/Helena Bonham Carter :)

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