The Raven
2/4
Starring: John Cusack, Luke Evans, Alice Eve, Brendan Gleeson, Kevin McNally
Rated R for Bloody Violence and Grisly Images
Edgar Allen Poe was a master of the macabre. "The Pit & The Pendulum," "The Mask of the Red Death," and of course, "The Raven" (of which the film is named after, despite the fact that the story is referenced very little in the film). James McTeigue's new thriller uses Poe's stories in an interesting (although not necessarily unique) way. The most grisly ones are used as real-live murders.
Poe (Cusack) is a notorious drunk and egotist in the mid-19th century. He's out of money (which he spent on booze and drugs) and his editor, Maddux (McNally) favors his rival's review instead of his. But now someone is using Poe's stories as inspiration for real life murders. Initially, Detective Fields (Evans) suspects Poe, but it doesn't take long for him to realize that the killer is someone else. In no short order, the killer has kidnapped Poe's fiancee, Emily (Eve) and makes Poe play a deadly game: he must solve the murders in order to rescue Emily.
"Weak" describes the entire film: the acting, the script, and surprisingly, the direction. The characters are so boring that it's hard to really care what happens to them. The acting is flat, the script is bland and doesn't always make a lot of sense, the premise is not fully exploited and the direction is plastic.
I like John Cusack, despite the fact that his characters are very similar. He's a good actor, and he takes chances, even if some of them aren't very good ("High Fidelity" was excellent while "Grosse Point Blank" was a disaster). Cusack is once again trying to stretch his range, but the results are mixed. He's a good low-key actor, and that's when he shines. When he's angry and shouting a lot, his range is obviously stretched. Luke Evans is an adequate actor, I guess, but he has so little presence that he fades away into the scenery. Alice Eve is good, but not great as Emily. She's adorable, but the spark that made her so great in "She's Out of My League" is missing. Brendan Gleeson sleepwalks through his role; I expected more from him.
James McTeigue, a protege of the Wachowski Brothers, is a good filmmaker. "V for Vendetta" was an action movie that asked questions with no easy answers, and "Ninja Assassin" was a bloody adrenaline cocktail that no one saw. Those two films were stylish and high-energy; "The Raven" appears to be helmed by a director for hire and is comatose when it comes to energy. Like the other films, it takes full advantage of the R rating ("The Pit and the Pendulum" murder is especially gory). But gore won't save a movie that's this bland.
Starring: John Cusack, Luke Evans, Alice Eve, Brendan Gleeson, Kevin McNally
Rated R for Bloody Violence and Grisly Images
Edgar Allen Poe was a master of the macabre. "The Pit & The Pendulum," "The Mask of the Red Death," and of course, "The Raven" (of which the film is named after, despite the fact that the story is referenced very little in the film). James McTeigue's new thriller uses Poe's stories in an interesting (although not necessarily unique) way. The most grisly ones are used as real-live murders.
Poe (Cusack) is a notorious drunk and egotist in the mid-19th century. He's out of money (which he spent on booze and drugs) and his editor, Maddux (McNally) favors his rival's review instead of his. But now someone is using Poe's stories as inspiration for real life murders. Initially, Detective Fields (Evans) suspects Poe, but it doesn't take long for him to realize that the killer is someone else. In no short order, the killer has kidnapped Poe's fiancee, Emily (Eve) and makes Poe play a deadly game: he must solve the murders in order to rescue Emily.
"Weak" describes the entire film: the acting, the script, and surprisingly, the direction. The characters are so boring that it's hard to really care what happens to them. The acting is flat, the script is bland and doesn't always make a lot of sense, the premise is not fully exploited and the direction is plastic.
I like John Cusack, despite the fact that his characters are very similar. He's a good actor, and he takes chances, even if some of them aren't very good ("High Fidelity" was excellent while "Grosse Point Blank" was a disaster). Cusack is once again trying to stretch his range, but the results are mixed. He's a good low-key actor, and that's when he shines. When he's angry and shouting a lot, his range is obviously stretched. Luke Evans is an adequate actor, I guess, but he has so little presence that he fades away into the scenery. Alice Eve is good, but not great as Emily. She's adorable, but the spark that made her so great in "She's Out of My League" is missing. Brendan Gleeson sleepwalks through his role; I expected more from him.
James McTeigue, a protege of the Wachowski Brothers, is a good filmmaker. "V for Vendetta" was an action movie that asked questions with no easy answers, and "Ninja Assassin" was a bloody adrenaline cocktail that no one saw. Those two films were stylish and high-energy; "The Raven" appears to be helmed by a director for hire and is comatose when it comes to energy. Like the other films, it takes full advantage of the R rating ("The Pit and the Pendulum" murder is especially gory). But gore won't save a movie that's this bland.
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