Review – From Hell

This latest entry in the cinematic saga of Saucy Jack isn’t half bad. For the most part, it’s a gory, stylish rework of plot points first explored in Murder By Decree. Johnny Depp stars as a police inspector with at least bush league psychic abilities who ends up in charge of the hunt for Jack the Ripper. The romance between Depp and the Heather Graham character, the most attractive of the circle of prostitutes-friends-victims, doesn’t work in a big way. Further, the movie spends all too little time on the blood and guts that helped set it apart from previous Jack movies and all too much time on the same ol’ same ol’ pseudo-mystery, a decision made all the more disappointing by the culprit the screenwriters eventually settle on. Plot aside, however, the reasonably compelling characters, intense art direction and bittersweet ending all work to make this effort worthwhile. Worth seeing