Review of The Raven (2012) by Jack F — 20 Nov 2012

As a longtime fan of the works of Edgar Allan Poe, I admit that the premise of "The Raven" intrigued me. To this day, there is a bit of mystery surrounding Poe's death, and the film comes up with one possible explanation as to how the enigmatic author/poet may have spent his last few days on Earth. What if a deranged madman began killing people in ways inspired by Poe's stories? And what if said madman engaged Poe in a battle of wills, even kidnapping the love of his life to force him to play along?

This idea has potential. It's basically like taking David Fincher's "Se7en" and transporting it back to the 1800's and using a real life figure as its protagonist. There's no doubt that it's a bit absurd (after all, the real life Poe did not tangle with any serial killers...at least, not that I know of...), but compared to say, turning Abraham Lincoln into a vampire slayer, it's definitely a bit more grounded. Unfortunately, it's not nearly as entertaining. I immensely enjoyed watching our sixteenth president decapitating undead bloodsuckers, but "The Raven" is a disappointment. The film is stylish and appropriately grim, but unfortunately it never lives up to its fascinating premise. What we have here is yet another example of a good idea with a failure to execute.

Admittedly, it was kind of fun to pick out the references to Poe's stories as the film progressed ("The Telltale Heart," "The Cask of Amontillado," "The Pit and the Pendulum," etc.). But this is not a smooth ride. The paths that Poe and his police inspector friend take to track down the killer and solve his riddles are convoluted, at best, and downright preposterous, at worse. I mean, in some instances, the killer is actually present at the scene of his latest crime, as if waiting for his pursuers to track him down. Why would he do this? Well, the obvious answer is to make the film more exciting, but from a plot standpoint, this doesn't make a whole lot of logical sense. This may seem a bit nitpicky, especially in a genre such as this, but that's what happens when you're having trouble getting involved in the movie.

I also have to say that I was immensely disappointed with how the movie was resolved. The "big reveal," in which the killer unmasks himself and explains his motivations, is really quite anticlimactic. The movie is clearly trying for a build-up of dramatic tension in this scene (again, much like the aforementioned "Se7en"), but it really just comes across as rather bland. Additionally, the killer makes a couple of incredibly bone-headed mistakes that are all but certain to get him caught. I know, in these kinds of movies, the killer almost always does things like this, but in "The Raven," this guy takes it to a whole new level.

The film's saving grace is John Cusack in the role of Poe. He brings the tortured genius of the man to life, and we really get a sense of the demons simmering beneath his surface (and this is even before he starts getting taunted by a serial killer). He's a bit mad himself and more than a bit of a narcissist, but somehow this all seems to ring true. As the film progressed, I actually found myself wondering how it would have turned out if it just went the straight-up biopic route. I could envision Cusack being very good in that as well, playing the role "straight," as it were, but these are not good thoughts to have when you're supposed to be watching a suspenseful thriller.

And that's really what it boils down to. "The Raven" just didn't deliver the goods. It squanders its potential and wastes a good performance by Cusack. It has an occasional moment or two and director James McTeigue (who previously helmed the outstanding "V for Vendetta") brings style and flair to the proceedings, but ultimately I really just felt kind of...meh. It's not exactly what I would call boring, but it's not very exciting either. Just "meh.".