The Raven Sucks

Review: The Raven

I have long considered it a blessing, my inability to fall asleep during movies. As a movie critic, you can see how this would be useful. Yet tonight it was a curse. I wished beyond all else to escape into the fantasies of my dreams from the drabness of The Raven. Yet try as I might, I could not break free of its uninspired hold. I literally passed the time twirling my thumbs and counting ceiling tiles.

I wanted to enjoy the film - Edgar Allen Poe is a great author ("The Cask of Amontillado" being one of my favorites) and I am also a fan of the actor portraying him, John Cusack (2012) - but it nevertheless disappointed. Admittedly, I went in with rather low expectations - reviews from critics have been awful - but even so, I still left underwhelmed.

The plot, reminiscent of other killer-inspired-by-an-author works before it (the most recent being the first episode of the hit television series Castle), is boring and utterly predictable. This might be acceptable if we actually cared about any of the characters, but we don't, since none of them truly engage the audience in any real, relatable way or have any convincing chemistry with the other characters on screen. I never bought that Poe was truly in love with Emily, the main romantic interest in the film played by beautiful Alice Eve (She's Out of My League), and he never had any interesting rapport with his crime-solving partner, Detective Fields, portrayed by Luke Evans (Immortals). They all merely seemed to be reading their lines, disregarding any real consideration for character development.

A few people I went with seemed to like it, saying "It wasn't terrible." I suppose if that's your standard of judgment, then you may enjoy The Raven. But if you're even a somewhat regular movie-goer, my expectation is that you will see through The Raven for what it is: a film, which instead of successfully achieving the potential found in the pure genius of Poe, is rather content to march through the paces of the bare minimum of story-telling. A plot is there; characters are there. But just because people are dressed up in period-piece costumes, does not mean a film is original or worth your time or attention. Not even if you're a fan of Poe. I haven't been this bored in a theater since Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and that's saying a lot.

The Final Word: Don't even bother.