mheaney-19527 Disappointing -- seems far removed both in characterization and sweeping plot of the famous novel. As other posters have commented, it seems rushed through, overlooking the importance and even charm (e.g. "Wemmick's Castle") of the novel. Dark to watch, too. For me, no version of GE comes close to the 1940s version where Jean Simmons was enchanting and Miss Havisham was everything that Dickens intended.Ms. Bonham Carter was, well, Ms. Bonham Carter. Bentley Drummle's character was hardly bothered with. Mr. Pip, however, was a fine Pip, and Fiennes was outstanding as Magwitch (hardly recognizable at the start). The adult Estella was nothing outstanding. Boilerplate.Worth a look, if only for comparison purposes.

LaDonna Keskes This looks like another vanity vehicle for Ralph Fiennes--he's done Hamlet, he's done Harry Potter, he's done Eugene Onegin--let's do MAGWICH.Since when is gentle Joe Garger ready to go fisticuffs with the man who wants to give Pip a better life? This guy looks like Keith Urban and acts like a thug. And why did they have to paint Pip's sister with such an evil child-abusing brush? And then there's Fiennes' Magwich, who is a scowling slimy fusterer with neither menace nor warmth. He stoops, he shuffles, he fumbles, but he's not convincing. The other characters are completely forgettable nonentities. Mike Newell's direction plunges his characters into almost total darkness, and as such there's nothing for the eye to watch, and very little worth listening to in the script.There's entirely too much brawling and violence--and of course we HAVE to have the money shot in Miss Havisham's burnt-black face--in this movie that provides nothing but a nasty distraction to the story. And, of course, there is another tacked-on happy ending. I thought the movie would at least be as honest as Estella was with Pip.Save your time and watch David Lean's most excellent version. Even with its tacked-on happy ending, it's just a better movie to watch, and Ralph Fiennes can't come within a mile of Finlay Currie, a genuinely frightening visage whose human heart is eventually revealed in a scene that still moves me to tears.It's a star turn for Fiennes, whom I would think had better judgment.

filmobsession94 Before the review starts I must say that it might be a little biased. Coming from another country, before I saw the movie I had never heard of the book (maybe the title once or twice in a different translation) or any of the movie adaptations. For everyone else I suspect it wasn't as interesting as it was to me.The movie is about a boy, Pip, who gets in the possession of some money and coming from a poor background, goes on to become a gentleman in London.The movie is filled with a very well-known cast, e.g. Helena Bonham Carter and Jeremy Irvine, and directed by Mike Newell (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire). As seen from previous movies, everyone delivers a remarkable performance, especially Carter with the wounded character of Miss Havisham (there's a good twist around the end involving her). Another great stand out was Holliday Grainger in the role of Estella. I loved her, and will be definitely looking at what projects she chooses in the future. It was a nice surprise when she appeared in Anna Karenina (2012), and although just for a couple of seconds, she played her part there very well too.The story, although I've never heard of it, is a classic. It's handled very well, and the love story too. Two people that were never meant to be together. Even though Estella is trying to push Pip away, Pip always comes back. There is definitely chemistry between the two.The sets and costumes were another high point of the movie. The women's wear in particular worked very well for the time period in which the story is set. The depiction of 1980s London was very graphic and very well done. Nothing seemed CGI, and all the sets looked very realistic.Every movie has a flaw, and nearly every time it's the pace. The movie did slow down around the middle, after Pip arrives in London and settles down. Not much happened.I recommend this to most movie fans looking for a good drama. Fans of the story will probably dig the new adaptation too. Enjoy.Acting - 10/10 Costumes - 10/10 Pace - 8/10 Sets - 10/10Overall - 9/10

TheLittleSongbird Far from a terrible film but rather disappointing too, seeing as this did have a lot going for it. Plus the trailer actually looked really good. There are certainly some good things, even when a film or series doesn't quite work there are not many times where there is nothing redeeming about it. This Great Expectations does have a fair few merits and the best of these merits actually come off quite well. The costumes and sets are both beautiful and evocative, and the reuniting of Pip and Estella has some very clever lighting, there is great atmosphere and poetry in this moment. The music is haunting, is fitting for the tone of the film and doesn't overbear things too much. The opening scene is very atmospherically effective also, though the adaptation that did this scene best and quite possibly without equal is David Lean's.And while the acting is inconsistent, there are some very good performances, and actually most of the performances fall into the very good category. The star was Ralph Fiennes, his Magwitch was both creepy and tragic, in the earlier scenes Fiennes is chilling but later on he is very likable and you feel pity for the character. Helena Bonham Carter really gives her all to Miss Havisham, wonderfully bitter and dramatic, if physically a little too on the voluptuous side for a character that is described the complete opposite in the book. Jason Flemying is an excellent and dignified Joe, Robbie Coltrane is firm and somewhat larger than life as Jaggers and Olly Alexander's Herbert Pocket is eccentric and quaint as well as earnest and upbeat, a very engaging performance of a potentially dull character.Jeremy Irvine looks the part for Pip but his acting style came across as too overwrought and too innocent, while Holly Grainger looks radiant but not cold enough for Estella. They are marginally better than the miscast leads in the respectable but flawed 2011 BBC adaptation, but only just. David Walliams mugs his way through the role of Uncle Pumblechook and painfully so, it may work for Little Britain but it is completely wrong here. Toby Irvine and Helena Barlow are very competent and work well together, if lacking that extra spark to make them truly memorable, Barlow also could have a little more spiteful.Aside from these problematic casting choices there are other reasons why this adaptation of Great Expectations fell short. It is a very difficult story to adapt, Dickens generally is difficult to adapt, but the story is not very engaging here, though there are some bright spots like the opening scene. The pacing can get tedious while some of the details are rushed through and under-explained, the Pip, Estella and Miss Havisham scenes veer towards the absurd rather than the tense and the scenes between Irvine and Holliday don't have that much pulse. The ending is also very badly bungled.The script can get rather trite and wordy with some awkward tonal shifts. And while the period detail is great and there are moments where the lighting is clever, the way the film looks is rather too grim, too much of the Harry Potter and Tim-Burton-at-his-most-Gothic vibe. Mike Newell does deserve some credit for bringing out the story's dark approach but too often it is too emphasised so the film generally lacks life, and consequently the dark obsession that is at the heart of this great story comes across as rather flat. Overall, a long way from bad but not as great as it could have been, personally this was a mixed feelings sort of reaction towards the film. 5/10 Bethany Cox