The Woman in Black
Jun. 3rd, 2012 10:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowfireflameFinally got to see Daniel Radcliffe in The Woman in Black and wrote up some thoughts…
Usually when I watch horror movies, I learn certain lessons from them: don’t go out into the woods at night alone, always keep that cellphone charged, always carry an ax, wear a seatbelt, pay attention when in scary situations, don’t deliberately piss off crazy people, etc. But I don’t think I’ll learn any lessons from this movie.
Because if you choose to go to an isolated, empty mansion filled with dolls and a sordid history on an island by itself in a town in the middle of nowhere, ignoring every dire warning given to you by the creepy villagers along the way, and then inexplicably volunteer to stay there overnight alone—you know what, at some point you kind of deserve what’s probably going to happen to you. Daniel Radcliffe’s character, Arthur Kipps, has a much higher fear tolerance and bailout threshold than I would. At the second creepy warning, I’d have gone, “Okay, obviously something is going down here, and my life is worth more than finding this dead lady’s will.” And I’d be out of there. So it’s hard for me to be overly sympathetic when Arthur just…refuses to leave.
I’m also not sure this was the best choice for Radcliffe to take if he’s trying to break out of his Harry Potter role. It’s got an old-timey feel, there are a ton of trains, the barren but beautiful scenery reminds me of Hogwarts, and the character he plays is still kind of stupidly, recklessly brave and tormented by the death of a loved one.
But it doesn’t really matter how good the acting or scenery is, with writing this silly and frankly a little lazy. The character’s motivations are either suspiciously missing or all over the place, the horror set-ups are bland and predictable, and as a result it’s never even that scary. I couldn’t help but compare it to Joss Whedon’s Cabin in the Woods, an amusing film which makes fun of almost every trope used here in The Woman in Black.
So to everybody except the most dedicated Daniel Radcliffe fan, I’d recommend giving this one a pass. However, it is fun if you start seeing the movie as a Harry Potter AU in which Ginny dies giving birth to James Sirius, and the grief makes Harry a bit crazy. But then the “evil vengeful ghost” would be less angry and a lot more fun. I’m thinking Peeves-style.
Benedict Cumberbatch watch (since he’s never far from my mind these days)—both Roger Allam and Ciaran Hinds had roles in this, which made me fangirl because Benedict co-starred with them in Cabin Pressure and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, respectively.
Also saw Snow White and the Huntsman and thought that was pretty good, though. Kristen Stewart’s character looks good in armor but has…no character, really. Charlize Theron’s evil queen, however, was fantastic and made the film for me.
Usually when I watch horror movies, I learn certain lessons from them: don’t go out into the woods at night alone, always keep that cellphone charged, always carry an ax, wear a seatbelt, pay attention when in scary situations, don’t deliberately piss off crazy people, etc. But I don’t think I’ll learn any lessons from this movie.
Because if you choose to go to an isolated, empty mansion filled with dolls and a sordid history on an island by itself in a town in the middle of nowhere, ignoring every dire warning given to you by the creepy villagers along the way, and then inexplicably volunteer to stay there overnight alone—you know what, at some point you kind of deserve what’s probably going to happen to you. Daniel Radcliffe’s character, Arthur Kipps, has a much higher fear tolerance and bailout threshold than I would. At the second creepy warning, I’d have gone, “Okay, obviously something is going down here, and my life is worth more than finding this dead lady’s will.” And I’d be out of there. So it’s hard for me to be overly sympathetic when Arthur just…refuses to leave.
I’m also not sure this was the best choice for Radcliffe to take if he’s trying to break out of his Harry Potter role. It’s got an old-timey feel, there are a ton of trains, the barren but beautiful scenery reminds me of Hogwarts, and the character he plays is still kind of stupidly, recklessly brave and tormented by the death of a loved one.
But it doesn’t really matter how good the acting or scenery is, with writing this silly and frankly a little lazy. The character’s motivations are either suspiciously missing or all over the place, the horror set-ups are bland and predictable, and as a result it’s never even that scary. I couldn’t help but compare it to Joss Whedon’s Cabin in the Woods, an amusing film which makes fun of almost every trope used here in The Woman in Black.
So to everybody except the most dedicated Daniel Radcliffe fan, I’d recommend giving this one a pass. However, it is fun if you start seeing the movie as a Harry Potter AU in which Ginny dies giving birth to James Sirius, and the grief makes Harry a bit crazy. But then the “evil vengeful ghost” would be less angry and a lot more fun. I’m thinking Peeves-style.
Benedict Cumberbatch watch (since he’s never far from my mind these days)—both Roger Allam and Ciaran Hinds had roles in this, which made me fangirl because Benedict co-starred with them in Cabin Pressure and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, respectively.
Also saw Snow White and the Huntsman and thought that was pretty good, though. Kristen Stewart’s character looks good in armor but has…no character, really. Charlize Theron’s evil queen, however, was fantastic and made the film for me.
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Date: 2012-06-04 06:03 am (UTC)"Aaaaaaaaa! My babies!"
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Date: 2012-06-04 02:10 pm (UTC)I was really hoping this would be a great movie for DR's sake, but at least we got to see him on screen again? I guess that's good? Hopefully his next projects will be awesome.
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Date: 2012-06-04 02:41 pm (UTC)I'm with you in feeling sad that this was Dan's first post-HP film released. I hope Kill Your Darlings is much better.
I liked it
Date: 2012-06-06 06:30 pm (UTC)Re: I liked it
Date: 2012-06-06 06:59 pm (UTC)I don't know how well it did financially, but I do wish the best for Daniel Radcliffe so we can see him in lots and lots of things.
I really wanted to see this in theaters but didn't get the chance, so I rented it from Redbox. :)