The plot was incredibly unique and filled to the brim with many conflicting stories and emotions. Through the films entirety, I found it captivating and wonderful, but ever so slightly lackluster. Gwynplaine is a fantastically written character who along with Quasimodo from Hugo’s earlier novel created an entire character trope. The deformed man who is hated and laughed at by the world despite being simply like everyone else. The contrast between his sinister face and kind, fearful personality is beautifully portrayed in this story. I do wish that Dea could have been a bit more interesting, she really just waits on bated breath for Gwynplaine for the whole movie, but they could have delved into the debt she believes she owes him and where her love stems from. The pacing is so strong for the vast majority of the movies until the final fifteen minutes which really drag on. The rest moves cautiously through time, much like our main character, doting on the dreadful scenes and the emotional ones. I really love the world building in this film, not only does it portray the times they live in through the clothes and speech and culture of the people, but it’s also applicable to the real world. Rather than understand, people would rather do anything else, this idea, which is also a massive part of the themes, is accurate to the time this film takes place and modern day. Speaking of the themes, I found them incredibly powerful and moving. It took the idea of never judging a book by its cover and turned it into something much more impactful then those words. It also shows that people are not what they seem, the smile plastered across his face at all times is a total lie, he in fact lives a miserable and painful life, seen by the world as only something to laugh at. Again, the cinematography was very good up until the last fifteen minutes. It grew very basic and really didn’t attract my attention in the slightest, the unique and emotional shots were gone and replaced with hasty action ones. But the rest of the movie did beautifully at creating touching and engaging scenes. While I went into this movie expecting it to be scary, I was entirely mislead and it was much more somber than I anticipated. I found many of the scenes to be very impactful and found myself emotional on behalf of the characters, they did so well portraying the self-consciousness of Gwynplaine. I struggle with the uniqueness of this film, considering its massive similarities to The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Since these are made by the same author, I’m willing to cut it some more slack but it really is very similar. I still think it’s a wonderful film. The dialogue didn’t seem too outstanding, it went well with the tone from scene to scene but didn’t get in the way in a good way or bad. I really don’t have much to say about it. Overall, this is a new favorite to me. Despite the last fifteen minutes being underwhelming, I found this movie to be a fantastic watch. I can’t really fully explain why, but I adore it.
Plot - 10
Characters - 8
Pacing - 9
Worldbuilding - 10
Themes - 10
Animation or Cinematography - 8
Emotional Impact - 9
Uniqueness - 6
Dialogue - 7
Overall Enjoyment - 10
Total: 87%
The plot was incredibly unique and filled to the brim with many conflicting stories and emotions. Through the films entirety, I found it captivating and wonderful, but ever so slightly lackluster. Gwynplaine is a fantastically written character who along with Quasimodo from Hugo’s earlier novel created an entire character trope. The deformed man who is hated and laughed at by the world despite being simply like everyone else. The contrast between his sinister face and kind, fearful personality is beautifully portrayed in this story. I do wish that Dea could have been a bit more interesting, she really just waits on bated breath for Gwynplaine for the whole movie, but they could have delved into the debt she believes she owes him and where her love stems from. The pacing is so strong for the vast majority of the movies until the final fifteen minutes which really drag on. The rest moves cautiously through time, much like our main character, doting on the dreadful scenes and the emotional ones. I really love the world building in this film, not only does it portray the times they live in through the clothes and speech and culture of the people, but it’s also applicable to the real world. Rather than understand, people would rather do anything else, this idea, which is also a massive part of the themes, is accurate to the time this film takes place and modern day. Speaking of the themes, I found them incredibly powerful and moving. It took the idea of never judging a book by its cover and turned it into something much more impactful then those words. It also shows that people are not what they seem, the smile plastered across his face at all times is a total lie, he in fact lives a miserable and painful life, seen by the world as only something to laugh at. Again, the cinematography was very good up until the last fifteen minutes. It grew very basic and really didn’t attract my attention in the slightest, the unique and emotional shots were gone and replaced with hasty action ones. But the rest of the movie did beautifully at creating touching and engaging scenes. While I went into this movie expecting it to be scary, I was entirely mislead and it was much more somber than I anticipated. I found many of the scenes to be very impactful and found myself emotional on behalf of the characters, they did so well portraying the self-consciousness of Gwynplaine. I struggle with the uniqueness of this film, considering its massive similarities to The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Since these are made by the same author, I’m willing to cut it some more slack but it really is very similar. I still think it’s a wonderful film. The dialogue didn’t seem too outstanding, it went well with the tone from scene to scene but didn’t get in the way in a good way or bad. I really don’t have much to say about it. Overall, this is a new favorite to me. Despite the last fifteen minutes being underwhelming, I found this movie to be a fantastic watch. I can’t really fully explain why, but I adore it.
Plot - 10
Characters - 8
Pacing - 9
Worldbuilding - 10
Themes - 10
Animation or Cinematography - 8
Emotional Impact - 9
Uniqueness - 6
Dialogue - 7
Overall Enjoyment - 10
Total: 87%
