Movie Review: The Woman in Black

I have been looking forward to this movie for a very long time! It's Daniel Radcliffe's first post-Potter film, and although it deals with the supernatural, his character is very different from the Boy Who Lived. He plays Arthur, a father and a widower.  It's a sad story which is driven mostly just by Dan's facial expressions and reactions. (But we're in good hands because, I mean, just look at that face...)

Seriously, tho... that face.

Radcliffe is a really smart man who acknowledged the fact that it will take at least three new films before people see him as something other than Harry Potter. In the same vein, Dan has said that with all the success of the Potter films, he knows he has freedom (where other actors may not) to choose smaller projects at this point in his career, and he feels it's his duty to exercise that. He also acknowledges the fact that many of his fans will see a movie just because he is in it, and because of this he feels he has a responsibility to them to make sure he doesn't force them see something terrible. This is how he chooses the roles he plays. It's really refreshing to know that a kid with this much commercial success and fame can still be so down-to-Earth and reasonable. He's a good one.

That being said, going into this movie I had really high expectations and unfortunately this movie didn't completely live up to them. With how short the movie is, the emotional punch I think the film was trying to make was muted. The middle section felt rushed and so the resolution didn't seemed to grow organically as much as it felt like it was pushed along, feet dragging. It's not as original as I had hoped, nor as severe as the trailers lead me to believe it would be. I think if there had been more time spent on the rising action, it would have held up better, overall.

However, as a PG-13 "horror" movie, it was really good. There were many sequences I thought were perfectly planned out and executed. I jumped and covered my eyes over and over again, sincerely! Not to mention, Daniel Radcliffe does have to carry the film all by himself most of the time, and he does a great job of it. I think it was a good first step out into the world of non-Potter related projects for him and proved he doesn't have to be a school boy for the rest of his career. I really can't wait to see what he does next.

I would suggest that if you are interested in a gore-less scary movie, check this out. It was so much fun. This is especially a great film for any Dan Rad fans. I doubt you'd be disappointed! I enjoyed this despite feeling it didn't live up to my expectations and will probably see it again with my friends.