The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part
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Critics Consensus: A heart-rending take on the classic book, with a legendary performance by Lon Chaney.
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Critic Consensus: A heart-rending take on the classic book, with a legendary performance by Lon Chaney.
All Critics (23) | Top Critics (3) | Fresh (21) | Rotten (2)
Although it is an elaborate-studied piece of work, over which much time and many dollars have been spent, it makes no tumultuous call upon our enthusiasm.
Worth seeing mainly for Chaney's remarkable performance; even bowed and constricted by the heavy weights he used to help simulate Quasimodo's crippled gait, his body remains extraordinarily expressive.
The self-torture demanded by Chaney's makeup is impressive, as are the scales of the sets and the crowd scenes, but nothing comes to life under the flat direction of Wallace Worsley.
Despite being 95 years old, it remains a classic. It also marks a true beginning of Universal Monster Films that would come to define horror for decades.
The fourth and most spectacular silent version of Victor Hugo's classic story Notre-Dame de Paris made Lon Chaney a major star.
It's for [Chaney's] inimitable genius alone that this sprawling saga is now most fondly remembered.
It's a total physical transformation that's often stunning to behold, selling effective make-up effects and behavior extremes with real gusto.
An awe-inspiring achievement, featuring magnificent sets (built on the Universal backlot), the proverbial cast of thousands (the crowd scenes are mesmerizing) and an opportunity to catch Lon Chaney at his most commanding.
From any facet or dimension, The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a true classic in its own right due to its ambition, scope, scale and payoff. However, the real reason to see this film is the incomparable performance of one Lon Chaney.
Lon Chaney created a lot of twisted wretches, vengeful villains, and criminal masterminds, but Quasimodo remains his most sympathetic screen character.
It's held up remarkably well.
This classic silent film will appeal to teens.
Deformed bell-ringer Quasimodo takes it upon himself to protect the beautiful and kindhearted gypsy girl Esmeralda when she is falsely accused of murder. The silent version with Lon Chaney is understandably overshadowed by the magnificent talkie with Charles Laughton, but this one is fast-paced and spectacular by silent film standards, packing quite a bit of Victor Hugo's novel into about two hours.
Super Reviewer
Worth seeing for Lon Chaney's performance and the grand 15th century Paris settings.
To be honest I was expecting to like this a lot more than I did. I'm especially disappointed that adaptation decay existed even in the very early pictures, and I wasn't really able to get over how sanitised elements of it were from the novel.
"The Hunchback of Notre Dame" is possibly the earliest film adaptation of the Victor Hugo novel and features some of the most iconic film visuals of the 20th century. Lon Chaney is a legend of the silver screen, most famous for his amazing make-up techniques and his willingness to throw himself into his part (perhaps he was cinema's first "method actor"?). However, while Chaney seems only capable of two facial expressions, he brings a wide array of subtle ticks (constantly flicking his tongue out of his mouth, for instance) and broad physical movements to the role. The film itself suffers from a lack of editing, it takes alot of time for a little to happen. Watching a great silent film can be like watching a painting come to life, like watching the angels dance in the Sistine chapel, but watching a bad one can be like watching the paint dry. This film falls somewhere in the middle, saved mainly by the last act, where the true sadness of Quasimodo's life and character is seen. I'm looking forward to seeing Charles Laughton's performance of the title role.
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