Boring and messy
The best quality about this movie is Christian Bale's standard good performance. And kudos for talented Harry Melling who portrayed Edgar Allan Poe and nailed his looks. Poor guy also obviously did the best he could do with the horrible lines he was given, but that was not enough to make his character likeable.
Yes, you read it right. They somehow managed to turn Poe, one of the most intriguing and mesmerizing figures in the history of literature, into this annoying and wimpy sidekick.
The rest of the characters are simply forgettable, with the exception of Gillian Anderson's who's even more cringe-inducing than this version of Poe. Yet another talent wasted with this mess of a script.
Story-wise, it is bad to a point that even the characters seem disinterested in the supposed big conundrum revolving around them. No one seems particularly impacted by the murder mystery, nor their personal relationships. We know that the characters (dis)like each other because we are told so, but we are shown absolutely nothing. Those little pieces of interaction between them convey zero emotion and character development.
The whole atmosphere is as dull as it gets. Not gloomy, not depressing, but monotonous like weather report. I think they were going for period piece, gothic novella and film noir at once, but it's none of it. Not even a glimpse of either of those genres. Just something that drags on for what seems like forever, and somehow still manages to omit the important pieces of information.
Still amazed how they persuaded this cast to participate in this project and honestly it is the only reason I gave it 4 stars.
Yes, you read it right. They somehow managed to turn Poe, one of the most intriguing and mesmerizing figures in the history of literature, into this annoying and wimpy sidekick.
The rest of the characters are simply forgettable, with the exception of Gillian Anderson's who's even more cringe-inducing than this version of Poe. Yet another talent wasted with this mess of a script.
Story-wise, it is bad to a point that even the characters seem disinterested in the supposed big conundrum revolving around them. No one seems particularly impacted by the murder mystery, nor their personal relationships. We know that the characters (dis)like each other because we are told so, but we are shown absolutely nothing. Those little pieces of interaction between them convey zero emotion and character development.
The whole atmosphere is as dull as it gets. Not gloomy, not depressing, but monotonous like weather report. I think they were going for period piece, gothic novella and film noir at once, but it's none of it. Not even a glimpse of either of those genres. Just something that drags on for what seems like forever, and somehow still manages to omit the important pieces of information.
Still amazed how they persuaded this cast to participate in this project and honestly it is the only reason I gave it 4 stars.
- Phantasma_the_Black
- Jan 5, 2023