Better Than I Was Led To Believe

Rating: 8/10 (9 August 2003)

Having only seen this movie after hearing critics trash it for 2 years, I was surprised by how much I liked it. I was expecting to be impressed with Depp's performance, and I wasn't disappointed, but I was also impressed by the execution of the story and the attention to detail by the directors. I haven't read the graphic novel (I plan to) but from what I heard about the deviations from it made for the movie, I think they were done to good effect. I think adding the death of Abberline's wife and baby, and his opium addiction, made his character that much more compelling, as a flawed and unhappy man who nevertheless forces himself to pursue justice. The opium and absinthe seem to be a natural response to the burden of clairvoyance that he must bear. The re-creation of the lower underbelly of Victorian London was well done, I thought. Not too squalid as to be distracting, but definitely not romanticized. Altogether, a very solid movie.