Franklyn is, in the opinion of this troper, one of the best movies in the history of the medium. I went into it with fairy low expectations; It was practically unknown to the general public. The few pieces of criticism I had managed to find seemed to imply that it was a 'V for Vendetta'- or 'Dark City'-ripoff, with excessive style but a lack of content, so I expected that. A guilty pleasure, an entertaining but ultimately pointless exercise in Longcoat-and-mask aestethics.
And, in the first part of the film, my expectations seemed to hold true. A masked killer antihero in an almost parodically stylish, dystopian city. A handful of people engaged in delightfully British misery in an almost equally noir-flavored modern London.
I may be gullible, but when the plot twists arrived, I was genuinely surprised. It's difficult to continue without spoiling anything, but the plot revolving around Jonathan Preest did at that point turn into a refreshing deconstruction that I have, without knowing it, longed for. It brutally slaughtered a few tropes that have always bothered me, but seemingly no one else. I tend to find supernatural presence in fiction cheap and pretentious, and thus tend to prefer the 'mundane' solution in any Maybe Magic Maybe Mundane situation. This was perhaps the first work of fiction I've seen where the creator seemed to think the same thing.
Now for something less praise-y. To me, the plotlines revolving around all characters that weren't Jonatan Preest seemed less meaningful, and the movie could easily have worked without them. The ending of the film was too convenient, too neat. The symbolic similarities between different plots were... Well, symbolic. Like most symbolism, it appeared at first glance to enrich the plot, while in reality doing the opposite. In my opinion, that is. Feel free to disagree. Anyhow, even the flawed parts were quite enjoyable to watch, if for no other reason than the visuals.
I give this film a rating of 18 out of 21 possible points, and wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone patient enough to struggle through this review.
Franklyn: It's pretty good.
Franklyn is, in the opinion of this troper, one of the best movies in the history of the medium. I went into it with fairy low expectations; It was practically unknown to the general public. The few pieces of criticism I had managed to find seemed to imply that it was a 'V for Vendetta'- or 'Dark City'-ripoff, with excessive style but a lack of content, so I expected that. A guilty pleasure, an entertaining but ultimately pointless exercise in Longcoat-and-mask aestethics. And, in the first part of the film, my expectations seemed to hold true. A masked killer antihero in an almost parodically stylish, dystopian city. A handful of people engaged in delightfully British misery in an almost equally noir-flavored modern London. I may be gullible, but when the plot twists arrived, I was genuinely surprised. It's difficult to continue without spoiling anything, but the plot revolving around Jonathan Preest did at that point turn into a refreshing deconstruction that I have, without knowing it, longed for. It brutally slaughtered a few tropes that have always bothered me, but seemingly no one else. I tend to find supernatural presence in fiction cheap and pretentious, and thus tend to prefer the 'mundane' solution in any Maybe Magic Maybe Mundane situation. This was perhaps the first work of fiction I've seen where the creator seemed to think the same thing. Now for something less praise-y. To me, the plotlines revolving around all characters that weren't Jonatan Preest seemed less meaningful, and the movie could easily have worked without them. The ending of the film was too convenient, too neat. The symbolic similarities between different plots were... Well, symbolic. Like most symbolism, it appeared at first glance to enrich the plot, while in reality doing the opposite. In my opinion, that is. Feel free to disagree. Anyhow, even the flawed parts were quite enjoyable to watch, if for no other reason than the visuals. I give this film a rating of 18 out of 21 possible points, and wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone patient enough to struggle through this review.