The premise for The Raven — that a madman utilizes the works of Edgar Allan Poe as inspiration to unleash a wave of murder in Baltimore, ultimately pulling Poe himself into the investigation — is clever and intriguing, especially for Poeists. The film, as directed by James McTeigue (V for Vendetta) is stylish and moody, mixing mystery and action (and torture) in a blend that ought to be irresistible. Why then, does The Raven not fly?
As clever as the story is, I think it needs more background. Poe is introduced as a drunken has-been, full of arrogance and conceit regarding his literary ability yet a local laughingstock. There isn’t enough backstory to identify with Poe’s predicament, let alone his ravings about his colleagues or his plight with poverty. Only when he is sucked into the investigation — and sees that his imagination has inspired the actual killing of innocents — does Poe become a genuine, interesting character.
As much as I enjoy John Cusack as an actor, I think he is miscast as Poe. He gives the part much energy and a brooding presence, but I was never convinced that he was Poe. Viewers unaware of Say Anything or Better Off Dead or The Sure Thing or Bullets Over Broadway should have an easier time with this, but it was difficult for me to accept the lightweight Cusack as the ever-melancholy writer. The film would have been better with someone like Ioan Gruffudd or Jeremy Northam in the role.
As interesting as the premise is to me, the film itself has an anachronistic feel because of it. The Raven in structure, and sometimes dialogue, seems like a very recent contemporary serial killer movie, and that was distracting. I would rather have seen McTeigue stage the action with more horror for the Baltimore populace, indicating that this was something strange and terrifying to them; not enough attention is given to this aspect. The story evolves with too much familiarity, and it shouldn’t; this was serial killing before the term was popularized (I think this is true, and if I’m wrong, that should have been included in the story as well).
What works is the relationship between Poe and the Baltimore inspector (Luke Evans) who presses Poe into service as an advisor, one really intense action sequence set at a country church and the general appearance of Baltimore in the 1800s (although the movie was lensed in Serbia and Hungary!). The copycat killings are gruesome, one extremely so, and the film earns its R rating in blood and gore. A decent supporting cast is generally lost in the background as the story centers around Poe and the killer who taunts him by kidnapping his young love (Alice Eve). All in all, this movie should have been much better than it actually was. ✰ ✰. 9 May 2012.