Movie Review

March 21, 2015

 

Most Helpful Critical Review

When our class read Stevenson’s Victorian-era mystery, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the tale of two men proved to be a great read. Although making a movie to follow such a classic is a daunting task, the director did a fair job of recreating the magic that made this book an instant classic.

Negatives:

– John Utterson is not mentioned in the entire movie. Despite being a main character and narrator in the book, the director decides not to worry about Utterson’s narration of events, but rather focus in on Jekyll and Hyde. This wouldn’t be a problem if the book wasn’t read, but since I have, I was wondering which character was Utterson during the movie instead of keying in on the plot.

–  Jekyll turning into Hyde towards the beginning of the movie tears away the suspense in the plot. Hearing the phrase, “He’s just like Jekyll and Hyde,” I knew that Mr. Hyde was going to be evil and probably murder, lie, and steal. Even though the unfortunately early revelation is disappointing, the movie is not at all spoiled.

– The death of Dr. Jekyll could’ve been much better it was really the most disappointing scene in the entire movie. Of course, Mr. Hyde had to be put to a stop, but the closing scene and interaction with Jekyll, Lanyon, and Poole felt very rushed by the director. The denial from Jekyll after the hunt seems anti-climactic as well as almost humorous. After such a complex and mind-warping movie, the ending was much too simple.

Positives:

– The romance between both Hyde and Ivy and Jekyll and Beatrice depict the difference of personalities between Jekyll and Hyde. For example, Jekyll is engaged to the polite, elegant, proud daughter of a member of parliament, while Hyde forces love from a show-girl who lives on the naughty side of town. These relationships depict Jekyll as a man of grace and stature, while showing Hyde as a man of secrecy and disgusting tastes.

– Sir Danvers Carew goes from a random victim in the book to a character of magnitude in the movie. The director showed great skill by using Carew as the father of Jekyll’s fiancee. Carew represents the high standards set and followed by Jekyll, only to show Hyde, ultimate evil, destroying all rules and boundaries with his cane.

– The movie does a great job of showing interaction between Jekyll’s new ideas and the established members of the community. For example, when Jekyll gives reasons for thinking a potion could separate good and evil, the dinner table of aristocrats explode on him, saying that his ideas are blasphemous and think Jekyll must be joking. These interactions prove that Jekyll’s experiments differ greatly from the Victorian-age culture.

Overall:

– This is definitely a great movie to watch if you like suspense and complexity in movies. If not, this movie will still provide entertainment with a unique storyline.


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