A beautiful picture, a powerful plot, a disappointing film

Rating: 5/10 (26 October 2001)

"From Hell" is another Jack the ripper movie. It is the 4th movie of the Hughes brothers (after Menace II Society in 93, Dead President in 95 and American Pimp in 99). It is also the most accomplished one from a technical stand point. Finally it is a fairly good adaptation of the novel by Alan Moore. The movie match the pace, the atmosphere and the style of the novel. The only good difference is that in the movie, you follow the investigation through inspector Frederick George Abberline's eyes (Johnny Depp), meaning you don't know who Jack the ripper is until the last 10 minutes of the movie. The picture of "From Hell" is very well set. The lightning and the shadows of London streets (even though it was filmed in Prague) are a piece of work. The realization is almost perfect: from the authenticity of this White Chapel district down to the very detail of the costumes, the work achieved here is truly impressive. The overall atmosphere is tainted with Gothic effects which ad to the power of some scenes. The sound of the movie is also very well worked, from the carriages wheels to the sound of the footstep over London's pavement. However the movie remain disappointing. The acting and the dynamic of the characters are superficially done. If Johnny Depp (Sleepy Hollow, 1999)was pretty descent and Ian Holm (remember him as Ash in Alien 1979 or in the Chariots of Fire in 1981) gave (almost as usual) a great performance, Heather Graham (Austin Powers, 1999) never emerged from the plot. She should have become the obsession of both Jack the ripper and inspector Abberline. Unfortunately most of this dynamic is underplayed. As a result the movie suffers from a lack of suspense (you just never get scared). There is almost no tension and little by little the movie becomes a pure artistic exercise leaving the cinematographic experience being a minor objectives (it should be the other way around!!!). The Hughes brothers managed to make a beautiful movie, unfortunately they also manage to make a scary movie non-scary and a powerful story unpowerful. I guess it is just another Jack the ripper movie, not the best one.