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THE RAVEN (2012)Movie Reviews
Thriller about Edgar Allan Poe's attempts to help a detective find a killer whose crimes are based on Poe's stories. Cast:John Cusack, Brendon Gleeson, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Luke Evans, Alice Eve, Pam FerrisDirector:James McTeigueRelease Date:April 27, 2012DVD Release:October 9, 2012From:Relativity MediaRating:RLength:1 hr. 43 min.
The Raven (2012) played to weak reviews. • James Berardinelli wrote for Reel Views, "...an anemic effort.... much of the dialogue is undercut by the plot-by-numbers..." • And Shawn Levy wrote in the Portland Oregonian, "...dull and mechanical and, most of all, phony.... characters who never seem alive, a plot that never feels clever..." More Reviews Below...
The Raven (2012) Positive Reviews (40 Reviews, reviews below)
Richard Corliss, Time: FAIR "...a spectacle -- a coroner's dispassionate report on a troubled soul -- rather than the anguished confession that is the hallmark of true Poe fiction."(See all of Richard Corliss's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,071 words, 04/27/12
David Germain, Associated Press: WEAK(cg) "...an unimaginative mess whose superficial appropriations of Poe's devilish yarns are deeply unworthy of the author.... offers up one of the dullest mass murderers ever."(See all of David Germain's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 665 words, 04/24/12
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: MODERATE(cg) "Cusack captures that desperation vividly enough to make you wish this was the real Poe story, which 'The Raven' onscreen leaves buried alive."(See all of Peter Travers's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 294 words, 04/27/12
Claudia Puig, USA Today: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...has some nicely mounted atmospheric scenes and strong acting from John Cusack as Edgar Allan Poe. But it is dogged by a story that grows plodding."(See all of Claudia Puig's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 402 words, 04/27/12
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: MODERATE(cg) "...attempts to explain Poe's death by cobbling together spare parts from thrillers about serial killers. It should not be mistaken for a movie about Edgar Allan Poe..."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 726 words, 04/27/12
Kat Murphy, MSN Movies: POOR(cg) "Fertile ground for perversity, murder and madness, if only director James McTeigue and company had been able to see further than a low-rent mash-up of 'Seven' and 'Saw.' "(See all of Kat Murphy's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 776 words, 04/25/12
James Berardinelli, Reel Views: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...period piece fun... looks great and is well-paced, but a lack of a compelling resolution makes it an anemic effort.... much of the dialogue is undercut by the plot-by-numbers..."(See all of James Berardinelli's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 747 words, 04/24/12
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NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO/TORONTO (12 Reviews)
A.O. Scott, New York Times: POOR "Mr. Cusack works himself into a lather trying to reconcile the contradictory parts of an incoherent character. In, I am sorry to say, an incoherent movie."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 721 words, 04/27/12
Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: POOR(cg) "...this wannabe Sherlockian thriller is like a night spent at Madame Tussauds, watching mannequins strangle other mannequins."(See all of Joe Neumaier's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 384 words, 04/27/12
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: MODERATE "...falls prey to its grand and grisly ambitions... What's missing is the tightly constructed tension-building that Poe did so unsettlingly and inventively well."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 591 words, 04/27/12
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: MODERATE(cg) "The notion of Poe chasing after his unwanted protege before he kills again is a good start. But there's no real kick or shiver to the events, nor to the ultimate revelation."(See all of Michael Phillips's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 474 words, 04/27/12
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: MODERATE(cg) "...attempts to explain Poe's death by cobbling together spare parts from thrillers about serial killers. It should not be mistaken for a movie about Edgar Allan Poe..."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 726 words, 04/27/12
Peter Howell, Toronto Star: POOR(cg) "It's all very silly, prompting much unintended audience laughter when it isn't just plain boring. Who would have guessed that gruesome deaths could be so dull?"(See all of Peter Howell's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 389 words, 04/27/12
Liam Lacey, Toronto Globe & Mail: MODERATE(cg) "A serial-killer flick with literary pretensions... The pervasive gore overpowers the few clumsy attempts at wit..."(See all of Liam Lacey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 180 words, 04/27/12
Josep Parera, La Opinion: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...no es un filme horrendo.... Es, simplemente, una película sin tono, que navega con rumbo perdido, dudando de quién es la estrella..."(See all of Josep Parera's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 371 words, 04/27/12
Andrew Dowler, Toronto Now: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...moderately enjoyable... The movie never catches the delirious tone of Poe's stories, but there are some sequences of atmospheric, suspenseful fun..."(See all of Andrew Dowler's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 192 words, 04/26/12
Gary Thompson, Philadelphia Inquirer: MODERATE(cg) "Characters register poorly, so the stakes are low when they're entombed in boxes, suspended beneath blades, walled up behind bricks, etc."(See all of Gary Thompson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 482 words, 04/27/12
Ty Burr, Boston Globe: WEAK(cg) "...grimly preposterous... What 'The Raven' lacks in narrative invention it makes up for by pushing the audience's face in blood, guts, and hacked flesh."(See all of Ty Burr's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 580 words, 04/27/12
Stephen Whitty, New Jersey Star-Ledger: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "There is a danger here of wandering into the steampunk, pop-junk territory of the recent 'Sherlock Holmes'... To its great credit, 'The Raven' avoids that."(See all of Stephen Whitty's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 563 words, 04/27/12
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: MODERATE(cg) "...has its moments, and yet there is something about this tale of a serial killer's patterning his crimes on Poe's most gruesome works that doesn't completely satisfy."(See all of Mick LaSalle's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 447 words, 04/27/12
Moira Macdonald, Seattle Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...while I can't really defend this as a good movie, I nonetheless enjoyed it, because of all those swirling cloaks and the moody candlelight..."(See all of Moira Macdonald's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 531 words, 04/27/12
Roger Moore, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: VERY GOOD(cg) "...more entertaining than it has any right to be... Cusack, in the most dashing, least introverted role of his career, is a delight."(See all of Roger Moore's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 375 words, 04/27/12
Steve Persall, Tampa Bay Times: MODERATE(cg) "...isn't nearly as much fun as it should be. Much of the problem lies in casting John Cusack as Poe, appearing more robust than a deteriorating substance addict should."(See all of Steve Persall's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 517 words, 04/26/12
Peter Keough, Boston Phoenix: POOR(cg) "...an incoherent hodgepodge from James McTeigue.... As Poe says about a grisly and gratuitous allusion to 'The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar,' 'It makes no sense.' "(See all of Peter Keough's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 169 words, 04/26/12
Tasha Robinson, AV Club: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...gets increasingly conventional as it goes on, until Poe becomes just another action hero, following an increasingly illogical, National Treasure-esque set of clues..."(See all of Tasha Robinson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 398 words, 04/26/12
Stephanie Zacharek, Movieline: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...the plot wobbles off the rails too many times to count... It all could have worked, maybe - if only Cusack, as the frustrated, impoverished genius, weren't so insufferable."(See all of Stephanie Zacharek's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 653 words, 04/27/12
Jaime N. Christley, Slant: WEAK(cg) "...bankrupt of any creative spark... Nevertheless, there's a smidge of comfort to be had in this largely painless exercise in gothic/Joel Silver-inherited action melodrama."(See all of Jaime N. Christley's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 524 words, 04/26/12
Andrew Dowler, Toronto Now: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...moderately enjoyable... The movie never catches the delirious tone of Poe's stories, but there are some sequences of atmospheric, suspenseful fun..."(See all of Andrew Dowler's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 192 words, 04/26/12
MaryAnn Johanson, Flick Filosopher: MODERATE(cg) "...not a terrible film. But it's not an especially good one, either... What's missing from 'The Raven' is a sense of intellectual discovery."(See all of MaryAnn Johanson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 893 words, 03/09/12
HIGHBROW PRESS (2 Reviews)
A.O. Scott, New York Times: POOR "Mr. Cusack works himself into a lather trying to reconcile the contradictory parts of an incoherent character. In, I am sorry to say, an incoherent movie."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 721 words, 04/27/12
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: MODERATE "...falls prey to its grand and grisly ambitions... What's missing is the tightly constructed tension-building that Poe did so unsettlingly and inventively well."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 591 words, 04/27/12
MOVIE INDUSTRY (4 Reviews)
Leslie Felperin, Daily Variety: POOR "Positing that Poe spent the last five days of his life in 1849 helping the police to hunt down a serial killer in Baltimore... a squawking, silly picture that never takes flight."(See all of Leslie Felperin's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 867 words, 03/09/12
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: MODERATE "...falls prey to its grand and grisly ambitions... What's missing is the tightly constructed tension-building that Poe did so unsettlingly and inventively well."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 591 words, 04/27/12
Emanuel Levy, Cinema 24/7: MODERATE(cg) "...neither stylish and entertaining in the vein of the big-screen 'Sherlock Holmes' mysteries (past or present) nor dark or moody enough to qualify as a Gothic work."(See all of Emanuel Levy's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 653 words, 04/24/12
A.O. Scott, New York Times: POOR "Mr. Cusack works himself into a lather trying to reconcile the contradictory parts of an incoherent character. In, I am sorry to say, an incoherent movie."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 721 words, 04/27/12
16.5 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
The Raven (2012)'s reviews are separated by an average 16.5 percentage points. The norm for this measure is 18.4 percentage points. Less than 18.4 indicates more consistent reviews; greater than 18.4 indicates more mixed reviews. In the chart below, each dot represents a review, with the dots at the top more positive than the dots at the bottom. From left to right, the dots represent reviews in big, bigger and biggest publications. Roll over each dot for more detail.
The Raven (2012) (40 reviews) Roll over dots for each review
Coverage:The Raven (2012)'s reviews cover 63.8% of potential readers (average is 67.9%). Volume:The film's reviews total 20,640 words involume (average is 20,172 words). Length:The film's reviews average 516 words in length (the norm is 517 words).
Reviews Broke 4.6 Hours Before Release (Norm is 1.2 Release)
The Raven (2012)'s reviews on average broke 4.6 hours before opening. Norm for this measure is 1.2 hours before. The chart below shows reviews on opening day and the days before and after opening; the left side is earlier and the right side is later. The red bars extending above the horizontal mid-line represent more positive reviews, and the red bars extending below represent more negative reviews. The white space/red bar in the middle is The Raven (2012)'s opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
The Raven (2012) (40 reviews, click on bars for reviews)
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