Great Expectations

It got worse and worse. It started out ok. There were a few instances of context that are not in Dickens, references to opium and the slave trade, and there was some clunky dialogue where women explained they were not ok with second class citizenship. That was ok. I felt it was unnecessary personally but I can see the temptation to make obvious to a modern audience what is implied or inferred.

By episode three it went off into scenes that are not in the book in any way and dialogue that has nothing to do with the novel. It is also slow paced. So much plodding music and a brooding boy. Makes you wonder why it was made.

I was anticipating this show with great expectations. I circled the day on my calendar. I was looking forward to the deep, colorful characters and masterful story telling and beauty of Charles Dickens. Instead, I found the outline of Dickens' story clothed in a gaudy and perverse costume. I was shocked by the steep incline into evil and darkness. I suggest that rather than having your soul assaulted, tuck a copy of the book Great Expectations under your arm and head for a quiet place to read. Even better, find a friend to go with you and take turns reading out loud. Enjoy the gift of Charles Dickens in all its glory.

It's okay for a movie or show to depart from the book it's based on, but if it does then don't we want it to at least do something interesting with the differences? If this series chooses to show Pip as a moody romantic teenager rather than as a child, then couldn't he at least be given some personality? The screenwriters do keep some bits of Dickens' writing -- which stand out from the rest of the wooden dialog -- but otherwise there's no individuality in the characters: they all speak more or less the same way, even those (such as Joe and Pumblechook) from completely different backgrounds. The show is all atmosphere and scenery at the expense of acting and story.

Wonderfully shot but the acting, the story and the relationships between the characters are just.. well.. boring. Everything feels very wooden and dull, there's no drive behind the characters and they all feel as though they have no depth. They all talk without saying or meaning anything. Like they've just read the lines from the page. It all just feels off and not in a good way, almost strangely sanitized and two-dimentional. It's a shame really because the cast is very impressive. I was looking forward to seeing the new Havisham and Estella but I could barely get past the stiff relationship of Pip and his sister and brother-in-law.

I had higher hopes for this as I adored the 2011 version but it's just failed to grab me.

Several of my favorite actors are in this adaptation, and I really wanted to love it. With every episode, I hated this version more and more. The entire thing strayed so far from the book and other adaptations. I get the creative license and interpreting it in a unique way, but my great expectations for this adaptation did not come to fruition. I think my disappointment was in the Pip storyline most of all. There were a few things I did like about this interpretation but it was from other characters mostly. I know Great Expectations is generally depressing, but this version was so extremely depressing and full of heartache and negative scenes (even gross scenes), that it really turned me off. I will not be watching this version again (I have previous versions on DVD).