Neither good nor bad

Rating: 5/10 (8 January 2007)

The movies i find most difficult to write a review about are the ones that are neither good nor bad but rather somewhere in between. This is definitely one of those movies.
I saw "From Hell" in the theater back when it was released. And i left the screening not really knowing what to think. While there are a lot of things to like about the movie, it still didn't give me a lasting impression and the story quickly faded from my memory. What i definitely liked was Johnny Depp's doped out investigator, i also liked the very beautiful sceneries and the fact that several of the surrounding actors were very good. No, the problem was neither in the production nor in the acting department. Nor was it due to a boring subject-matter, there is definitely something that's still enticing and curious about Jack the Ripper.
So what was it? Well, i don't know really but my best guess is the script. Because despite all this scenery, these good actors and this interesting real-life story, the end-result is actually rather dull and uninteresting. The movie didn't leave a mark, didn't make me want to learn more about Jack the Ripper, and worst of all it didn't really entertain me much. There was simply no nerve, no excitement, present. And for a thriller that's not good.
So i guess the grade is... difficult to give. While it was decently entertaining during it's running time, and there was much nice scenery and images to watch, it faded immediately after the movie ended. And of the exciting chase for Jack the Ripper not much excitement remained (or was ever present). So i guess this is somewhere between good and bad, which means... a 5/10?