Great Expectations

It seems like every year we get a new film based on the classic take by Charles Dickens, Great Expectations. There are so many versions, it is pointless to make another one. Apparently people disagreed though as we have another update, this time starring Helena Bonham Carter and Ralph Fiennes. I adored the 1998 version even though it was critically panned. I cannot say the same about this movie. The performances were excellent and it has a majestic scope, but the narrative is just a little uneven for my taste.

By now, we should all know the plot to the film. But in case this was someone's first big-screen adventure into the story, Mike Newell's film is about a boy named Pip who is given a chance at a gentleman's life in London thanks to a mysterious benefactor.

As said before, the film does have excellent performances namely by our two British veterans in Carter and Fiennes. Carter makes an excellent Miss Havisham and she is delightfully weird, just like in most Tim Burton movies. Fiennes also gives all he got as the convict Pip meets in the beginning. Jeremy Irvine, known for his role in War Horse, does a solid job and same goes for Holliday Granger as Estella, Pip's romantic interest. I also thought Jason Flemying was excellent as Joe, and the scenes between Joe and Pip were quite powerful.

Overall, the latest Great Expectations remake tries it very best to succeed thanks to the lavish production design and it excellent performances, but it fails to live up to previous films. It is certainly not bad, but it doesn't bring anything new to the table. That being said, it still is good to watch. They do a good job in recreating nineteenth century London and the countryside. It shows how different life was compared to today. Not a bad film, but not a great one either. Perhaps no more adaptations in the near future, studios. I rate this film 7/10.

How many retellings of the same Dickens story do we really need? Especially since none of these new adaptations do anything that David Lean's version couldn't. I'll still watch them though in the hope that they do one that does the great classic tale proud or surpasses the 1946 version.

Great Expectations (2012) comes hot off the heels of the BBC's praised 2011 three-part miniseries. This one starring Jeremy Irvine, Ralph Fiennes, Robbie Coltrane, Holliday Grainger and Helena Bonham Carter. I actually watched this mistakenly thinking it was staring Ray Winstone but was pleasantly surprised to see Fiennes in the role instead. This version got a bit of a poor reception from what I remembered so I wasn't expecting too much to be honest, but to my surprise it was alright.

A decent effort with some moments that Lean's version didn't even include from the novel but there's something about the whole film that seems a bit made for tv movie. The acting in particular from Jeremy Irvine and Holliday Grainger is just very flat and devoid of life. Very boring performances. Helena Bonham Carter in a role that seemed almost made for her. I was sure she would impress here but didn't. She wasn't bad by any means but she didn't add anything to the Miss Havisham character. It could've been anyone else in the role and it wouldn't have made a difference.

Ralph Fiennes was excellent as expected, as always. Robbie Coltrane was a great choice for Jaggers and played the part well. Ewan Bremner shines as Wemmick. Real shame this wasn't better.

Rather so-so.

Great Expectations is one of my favorite novels and I have seen every screen adaptation to date. None has made more impact on me than the David Lean version. I was so looking forward to Mike Newell's version which seemed to have the perfect casting. I was though quite disappointed. Granted that it is very difficult to tell this story in a couple of hours of screen time, but that is no excuse for making a film which rushes through the events in the book without providing sufficient depth of the characters and motivation for their actions for the audience to feel empathy with them. Such a story deserves a longer screen time or alternatively cut out some of the secondary characters and provide more focus on the main characters. The film has a very "Harry Pottery" look which is no surprise since Newell made one of the films in that series. Performances are generally fine, with Ralph Fiennes and Helena Bonham Carter predictably stealing the main honors.

You can call this a more or less faithful abridged adaptation of the book. They had to make some minor changes here and there to fit the serialised novel into the 2 hour time limit, but everything was done tastefully.

But that doesn't make it particularly good. No, since it's trying to remain faithful to a full-length novel, instead of focusing on a little here and there, the plot rushes from scene to scene to try to cram everything in. Some of the drama and richness of the characters is lost in the celerity of the presentation.

It preserves the Victorian setting very nicely, which I appreciate, so I like it better than the 2007 version. However, it really didn't need to exist. The acting or casting isn't particularly brilliant and, as I said, it's different from the book in only minor points. As it stands, it's like a poorer version of a well-known song. You'll get possibly more out of a radio drama, the cliff's notes, the South Park recreation, the TV show, or the old movie. Gratuitous and unnecessary.

If you read the book, you could have some fun seeing the characters brought to life and picking out the differences between book and film. If not, you might be confused about what's going on.

Honourable Mentions: The Grey (2011). Liam Neeson gets lost in a forest in Canadia or Alaska or something and has to fight off some wolves with his fists. If you were going to watch this movie because you thought the guy on the cover was Neeson, there's a good consolation prize for you.

it has a special beauty. far to be perfect, far to be convincing at whole, it has the science to use the kitsch and the light, the dialog and the details in wise manner. and that performance is its high virtue. old stereotypes - Helena Bonham Carter using Tim Burton recipes, remarkable parts - Jeremy Irvine as one of the most good Pip and the nuances of Magwitch by Joseph Fiennes, the crumbs of sentimentalism and the air of novel does it more than a correct adaptation. a beautiful film in profound sense. for the romanticism, for the links between characters, for the inspired way to tell the story. sure, nothing spectacular. sure, almost nothing new. but useful for remember the spirit of a great novel.