A disappointment

Rating: 5/10 (3 March 2006)

To the defense of the makers of the movie 'From Hell' it must be said, that no one could have followed the material written by Alan Moore to the graphical novel drawn by Eddie Campbell: there just is too much plot for a single movie. If by the other hand they would have decided to make a TV-series out of the novel, the result would have been entirely different.
The most constructive difference between the graphical novel and the movie is, that the novel is about Jack The Ripper: who he is and why he does what he does. The movie is a film about Abberline and his personality and his mission to stop the monster. And some fool decided to add these mystical foresight abilities to Abberline, who in fact was described as rather normal fellow in the novel.
Jhonny Depp plays the part of Abberline, and that was a bit disappointment for all, who actually have read the novel, as Abberline is no where near Depp's appearance: he's shorter and more rounder. Best role of the film is given to Ian Holm, who play Dr. Sir William Gull, the official doctor of the royal family. The rest of the cast is good, tough I question of the cast of the prostitutes, or does Heather Graham really strike anyone as 19'th century harlot?
From some reason or another all movies based on Alan Moore's brilliant writing fail to capture the essence and the spirit of his works. The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen was same kind of disappointment from the same reason. Moore's characterisations are far too bold for typical Hollywood films. They will always fail to portray them right.