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The trailer for Hollywood’s adaptation of Alan Moore’s From Hell series is showing before “The Planet of the Apes”. I was a bit startled to see it--I had no idea a film was in the works--and I had immediate misgivings.
The trailer went pretty fast, so my impression of it may be confused. I hope so, because my impression is that they’re telling a standard catch-the-psycho formula story and slapping Moore’s title on it. First off, Johnny Depp’s character seems to be a psychic police detective, a combination of Lees and Abberline I suppose. No doubt he will be a heroic figure, too, unlike the rather pathetic fraud and “bent copper” that are the sources for his character.
I also got the impression that the story will follow Depp’s character as he tries to catch Jack the Ripper. This seems to me like this would ruin the whole focus of Moore’s tale, which kicks off with an intricate exploration of William Gull’s aberrant mind and then proceeds chronologically through the events leading up to the murders.
The plot might include Moore’s royal conspiracy, and it definitely has a Mason connection to it, but without a window into Gull’s mind, there won’t be much depth to it.
I realize that the sheer size of From Hell precludes a direct adaptation to the screen, but while the From Hell film might be a perfectly good story in its own right, it’s not going to be Moore’s story. I guess they don’t consider Moore’s name much of a selling point—his name wasn’t anywhere that I could see.
Did I interpret the trailer correctly? How bad could the movie be? |
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