The Raven Movie Review POSTED BY KAREN BENARDELLO ON APRIL - 26 - 2012 (SHOCKYA)

Technical: B+

Acting: B

Story: B

Overall: B

Read more: http://www.shockya.com/news/2012/04/26/the-raven-movie-review/#ixzz1tC3favtu

‘The Raven’ follows a young Detective, Emmett Fields (played by Luke Evans), who takes the lead on a brutal killing spree that terrorizes Baltimore in the 1840s. After a mother and daughter are found viciously murdered, Emmet recognizes the details as resembling a fictional killing described in detail in a story in the local newspaper.

Emmet decides to reach out to the writer of the poem, social outcast Edgar Allan Poe (portrayed by John Cusack). As Edgar is being questioned by police, another killing inspired by his work is taking place. Emmett decides to have Edgar help the police search for the killer, before he can make every fictional murder described in his poems into a reality.

While Edgar is helping the police, he becomes engaged to Emily (played by Alice Eve), the daughter of a local businessman, Captain Charles Hamilton (portrayed by Brendan Gleeson). Charles is initially opposed to his daughter marrying the socially inept poet. However, he turns to Edgar for help after Emily is kidnapped by the killer, and the two learn to work together so that they can help the police search for Emily.

‘The Raven’s screenwriters, Ben Livingston and Hannah Shakespeare, created an intense murder mystery that mixed true elements of Poe’s real life with fictional elements that created an intriguing tale based on his most well-known works. The scribes smartly infused the story with facts about the poet’s life to give the mystery thriller historical context that will allow viewers to recognize elements of the writer’s work.

His poems provide frightening murder scenarios, particularly for his time period, and posed the question of what would really happen if someone decided to carry out murders based on his poems, including ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’ and ‘The Pit and the Pendulum.’ Poe was the perfect poet to base a fictional murder mystery on, because he reflected the fears and hopes of everyone who lived during the time he was alive.

People were afraid to find their children murdered, or be killed themselves because of their profession and the arguments they had with their rivals. Poe also embodied people’s fears of losing a loved one, as he witnessed his mother and wife die of illness, but he had the determination to continue with his writing. He hoped to reach people with his poems, and find success in doing what he loved.