Review of The Raven (2012) by Robert H — 08 Feb 2014

Despite a rather convoluted and forgettable murder mystery, THE RAVEN has some decent production values, satisfactory (if slightly overdone) acting and is entertaining as speculative historical fiction.

The premise of the film is that these are the final days of Edgar Allan Poe as he assists a young police detective in catching a serial killer who patterns his crimes after Poe's stories. The story works in fits and starts, with each murder ostensibly bringing Poe closer to the unknown killer.

Basically, a whodunit. John Cusack does a great job of inhabiting this fictional version of Poe, although a lot of his dialogue (and most of the dialogue really) is laughable. Luke Evans is the only other actor with a substantial role, and he does a decent job, too.

However, the main reason to see this movie is the director, James McTeigue. Better known for being the assistant director of the Matrix trilogy, as well as his own solo efforts V FOR VENDETTA and NINJA ASSASSIN, he brings a similar style to this movie, although it's significantly toned down.

There are a few moments of graphic violence (augmented by CGI blood) and one "bullet time" moment, but for the most part he goes for a grim atmosphere as opposed to over-the-top style. Being that this is a period piece, I thought that the recreation of 1840's Baltimore was pretty good, and the limited color palette worked in the film's favor.

The score was also passable, although nothing really spectacular. If anything, this film feels painfully ordinary when considering the talent involved. Still, it is rather entertaining and isn't quite as bad as you might think it to be.