Identity (2003)(Minor Spoilers Review)

**This review contains MINOR spoilers. No character deaths, or major twists**

Malcolm Rivers (Pruitt Taylor Vince) is a death row inmate, and he’s twenty-four hours away from his execution. But Malcolm’s psychiatrist, Dr. Malick (Alfred Molina) tries to convince Judge Taylor (Holmes Osborne) to change his ruling, allowing Malcolm to live out the rest of his days in a psychiatric hospital under his care. Dr. Malick uses Malcolm’s journals during an emergency meeting at a courthouse in a last-ditch effort to save Malcolm’s life, but Dr. Malick’s demonstration during Malcolm’s  face to face meeting with Judge Taylor takes an unexpected turn, when Malcolm is forced to confront his worst fears.

Meanwhile, during a heavy rainstorm in Nevada, a limo driver/ex-police officer driver named Ed (John Cusack) is looking for a safe path on the slippery roads ahead. In the backseat, Ed’s client, Caroline Suzanne (Rebecca De Mornay), a disgruntled TV star from the 80’s, orders Ed to look for a replacement battery for her cellphone. Ed takes his eyes off the road for a split second, and he accidentally hits Alice York (Lelia Kenzle). Alice’s young son, Timmy York (Bret Loehr) is horrified at the sight of his wounded mother, but Ed agrees to help Alice, Timmy, and Timmy’s stepfather, George (John C. McGinely) with a ride to the nearest motel.

At the motel, Ed, Caroline, Alice, Timmy, and George meet the owner and manager, Larry (John Hawkes). Alice needs medical attention, but the roads are flooded, the phone lines are down, and cell phones are useless without reception. Eventually, more travelers seek shelter inside the motel. The newlyweds, Ginny (Clea DuVall) and Lou (William Lee Scott) are trying to work out problems in their rocky relationship; a cop named Rhodes (Ray Liotta) is escorting his prisoner, Robert (Jake Busey) to another prison; and Paris (Amanda Peet), a prostitute,  is forced into the motel after an unexpected breakdown.

Alice is bleeding to death, and the group is forced to deal with another problem during the rainstorm: an unknown killer is stalking everyone in the motel. The killer quietly eliminates everyone in the motel, and escape is not an option. Ed, Rhodes, and others struggle to solve the mystery behind the killer and his motivations before sunrise, but a series of shocking revelations complicate the investigation……….

If I had to pick one person for the best performance, I would give the nod to John Cusack. Cusack is a solid leading man as Ed. His performance isn’t mind-blowing, but Cusack does enough to justify an increased amount of focus and screen time. Amanda Peet is serviceable as Paris, and you’ll see Peet’s best scenes during her rivalry with Larry. Larry detests prostitutes, and you can feel the disdain between these two during a series of dueling verbal jabs. Ray Liotta? He’s not bad, but his performance as Rhodes is passable at best, and that’s it.

Rebecca De Mornay had the chance to steal the show, as the snobbish and pompous TV star with en ego, but her screen time is cut short here. William Lee Scott is the typical overbearing boyfriend, who openly flirts with Paris, and of course, he verbally abuses Ginny. Clea DuVall is a panicky and frightened mess, as Ginny. Jake Busey is decent enough as the creepy convicted killer with a dark side, and John C. McGinely is believable, as the nerdy and soft spoken stepfather, who’s trying to do the right thing.

I know I say this a lot, but you REALLY have to strap yourself into suspension of disbelief mode for Identity. Maybe I’m the only, who feels this way, but when it comes to reactions, you’ll hate the twists at the end, because you’re in the “too far-fetched” crowd. Or, you’re jaw will hit the floor, when Identity reveals the killer.

Hindsight (probably my second or third watch for Identity. First time in a LONG time, but still) kills a lot of the shock value for me, but Identity earned a spot on my list of favorites. It’s an eerie and suspenseful mystery/thriller, featuring a series of genuinely shocking twists during the jaw-dropping finale, and you‘ll see the gruesome aftermath of unfortunate victims (i.e. Robert‘s mangled corpse with a baseball bat stuck in his throat…yikes).

Identity does a wonderful job of playing mind games with the audience during the constant finger-pointing in a deadly whodunit game of cat and mouse. The desolate motel in a fierce rainstorm is a perfect setting for the main characters, because it’s an isolated deathtrap, and this setting enhances feelings of desperation and claustrophobia. In the end, Identity is a must-see film, easily. As I said before, when it comes to the twists at the end, it’s an even split for which side of the fence you’ll be on. You’ll hate or love the reasons behind the revelations for the killer, but one thing’s for sure, it’s impossible to resist the urge to decipher, question, and analyze Identity’s memorable and thought-provoking finale.

Rating: 8/10

Michael Jordan had another run with the Wizards after winning six championships. Brett Favre was one step away from earning a second ring with the Vikings.

As the world's definitive multi-talented superstar athlete, Trisha Bunrastar is taking an unexpected and shocking leap into a new career path. Assuming the identity of Freechelle Fantabulous, Trisha vows to fight crime and battle evildoers as a superheroine. Will she conquer her new mission? Find out more here! http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFLI6VK

Or take a trip into my special world of madness that includes comedy, horror, and the supernatural in this collection of short stories- http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFMYZ0U

Remember Amazon offers free Kindle App downloads for various platforms. Follow this link to find out more- http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000493771

And don't forget to follow me on Twitter here- https://twitter.com/LQuigleyFan1

Identity (2003)(Spoiler Review)

**This review contains spoilers**

Malcolm Rivers (Pruitt Taylor Vince) is a death row inmate, and he’s twenty-four hours away from his execution. But Malcolm’s psychiatrist, Dr. Malick (Alfred Molina) tries to convince Judge Taylor (Holmes Osborne) to change his ruling, allowing Malcolm to live out the rest of his days in a psychiatric hospital under his care. Dr. Malick uses Malcolm’s journals during an emergency meeting at a courthouse in a last-ditch effort to save Malcolm’s life, but Dr. Malick’s demonstration during Malcolm’s  face to face meeting with Judge Taylor takes an unexpected turn, when Malcolm is forced to confront his worst fears.

Meanwhile, during a heavy rainstorm in Nevada, a limo driver/ex-police officer driver named Ed (John Cusack) is looking for a safe path on the slippery roads ahead. In the backseat, Ed’s client, Caroline Suzanne (Rebecca De Mornay), a disgruntled TV star from the 80’s, orders Ed to look for a replacement battery for her cellphone. Ed takes his eyes off the road for a split second, and he accidentally hits Alice York (Lelia Kenzle). Alice’s young son, Timmy York (Bret Loehr) is horrified at the sight of his wounded mother, but Ed agrees to help Alice, Timmy, and Timmy’s stepfather, George (John C. McGinely) with a ride to the nearest motel.

At the motel, Ed, Caroline, Alice, Timmy, and George meet the owner and manager, Larry (John Hawkes). Alice needs medical attention, but the roads are flooded, the phone lines are down, and cell phones are useless without reception. Eventually, more travelers seek shelter inside the motel. The newlyweds, Ginny (Clea DuVall) and Lou (William Lee Scott) are trying to work out problems in their rocky relationship; a cop named Rhodes (Ray Liotta) is escorting his prisoner, Robert (Jake Busey) to another prison; and Paris (Amanda Peet), a prostitute,  is forced into the motel after an unexpected breakdown.

Alice is bleeding to death, and the group is forced to deal with another problem during the rainstorm: an unknown killer is stalking everyone in the motel. The killer quietly eliminates everyone in the motel, and escape is not an option. Ed, Rhodes, and others struggle to solve the mystery behind the killer and his motivations before sunrise, but a series of shocking revelations complicate the investigation……….

If I had to pick one person for the best performance, I would give the nod to John Cusack. Cusack is a solid leading man as Ed. His performance isn’t mind-blowing, but Cusack does enough to justify an increased amount of focus and screen time. Amanda Peet is serviceable as Paris, and you’ll see Peet’s best scenes during her rivalry with Larry. Larry detests prostitutes, and you can feel the disdain between these two during a series of dueling verbal jabs. Ray Liotta? He’s not bad, but his performance as Rhodes is passable at best, and that’s it.

Rebecca De Mornay had the chance to steal the show, as the snobbish and pompous TV star with en ego, but her screen time is cut short here. William Lee Scott is the typical overbearing boyfriend, who openly flirts with Paris, and of course, he verbally abuses Ginny. Clea DuVall is a panicky and frightened mess, as Ginny. Jake Busey is decent enough as the creepy convicted killer with a dark side, and John C. McGinely is believable, as the nerdy and soft spoken stepfather, who’s trying to do the right thing.

Who’s the killer? Is it Rhodes? Larry? Robert? Well, the answer to all three is a big no. On top of that, you can omit EVERYONE from the motel. Why? Because they’re not real. Remember Malcolm Rivers? Malcolm suffers from a severe case of dissociative identity disorder. Malcolm’s mind is cluttered with ten different personalities, and each person at the motel represents one of Malcolm’s personalities. One of the personalities took control of Malcolm’s body, and this personality forced Malcolm to commit the murders. The motel, the ten strangers, the rainstorm, the floods. It’s all fake, and Malcolm is playing out one of Dr. Malick’s elaborate scenarios in his mind, because Malcolm must “eliminate” the murderous personality to avoid his execution.

For a moment, Malcolm snaps out of the motel scenario as Ed, but Dr. Malick pushes Malcolm to return to the scenario in his mind (as Ed) to finish what he started, and eliminate the killer. Rhodes, Paris, and Ed are the sole survivors after Rhodes (an escaped convict, who posed as a cop for a decoy, and Robert was his prison buddy) murders Larry. Ed and Rhodes kill each other in a shoot out, so Paris is the sole survivor. A calm Malcolm finishes the scenario in Judge Taylor’s presence, so Judge Taylor agrees to Dr. Malick’s terms: Malcolm will live out the rest of his life in a mental hospital under Malick’s supervision and care.   

At dawn (we‘re jumping into the motel scenario again), Paris uses Larry’s truck to drive to her hometown of Frostproof, Florida to start over.  One day, Paris is out in the garden, and she finds a motel room key with the number one on the front. Long story short, the killer placed room keys from the motel on the dead bodies of his victims as a calling card.

Anyway, Paris picks up the key with this terrified look on her face……and Timmy is standing in front of her. Yep. Timmy was the murderous personality in Malcolm’s mind, but Timmy survived the massacre at the motel. Timmy eliminates (or murders) Paris, so Timmy takes full control of Malcolm’s body. Ed and Paris are gone, so Malcolm can’t rely on sensible reasoning or logic anymore. In the van with Dr. Malick and a guard, Malcolm (under Timmy’s influence) uses his handcuffs to strangle Dr. Malick. The driver panics, and the van skids into the desert to end the movie.

Identity packs a powerful punch with a series of genuinely shocking twists at the end. Malcolm living in a dream world, and everyone at the motel being an imaginary person in Malcolm's mind? If you predicted all of that with no bumps in the road, then I need to borrow your crystal ball for a weekend.

I know I say this a lot, but you REALLY have to strap yourself into suspension of disbelief mode for Identity. Maybe I’m the only, who feels this way, but when it comes to reactions, you’ll hate the twists at the end, because you’re in the “too far-fetched” crowd. Or, you’re jaw will hit the floor, when Identity reveals the killer.

Hindsight (probably my second or third watch for Identity. First time in a LONG time, but still) kills a lot of the shock value for me, but Identity earned a spot on my list of favorites. It’s an eerie and suspenseful mystery/thriller, featuring a series of genuinely shocking twists during the jaw-dropping finale, and you‘ll see the gruesome aftermath of unfortunate victims (i.e. Robert‘s mangled corpse with a baseball bat stuck in his throat…yikes).

Identity does a wonderful job of playing mind games with the audience during the constant finger-pointing in a deadly whodunit game of cat and mouse. The desolate motel in a fierce rainstorm is a perfect setting for the main characters, because it’s an isolated deathtrap, and this setting enhances feelings of desperation and claustrophobia. In the end, Identity is a must-see film, easily. As I said before, when it comes to the twists at the end, it’s an even split for which side of the fence you’ll be on. You’ll hate or love the reasons behind the revelations for the killer, but one thing’s for sure, it’s impossible to resist the urge to decipher, question, and analyze Identity’s memorable and thought-provoking finale.

Rating: 8/10

Michael Jordan had another run with the Wizards after winning six championships. Brett Favre was one step away from earning a second ring with the Vikings.

As the world's definitive multi-talented superstar athlete, Trisha Bunrastar is taking an unexpected and shocking leap into a new career path. Assuming the identity of Freechelle Fantabulous, Trisha vows to fight crime and battle evildoers as a superheroine. Will she conquer her new mission? Find out more here! http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFLI6VK

Or take a trip into my special world of madness that includes comedy, horror, and the supernatural in this collection of short stories- http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFMYZ0U

Remember Amazon offers free Kindle App downloads for various platforms. Follow this link to find out more- http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000493771

And don't forget to follow me on Twitter here- https://twitter.com/LQuigleyFan1

The Frozen Ground (2013)(Minor Spoilers Review)

**This review contains MINOR spoilers, no plot twists, big reveals or character deaths**

In 1983, Sergeant Jack Halcombe (Nicolas Cage) leads an investigation in Anchorage, Alaska to catch a merciless serial killer. The killer targets young women and prostitutes by luring them to his home. Here, the killer beats, tortures, and rapes his victims. To fulfill his sadistic blood lust, the killer forces his broken victims into the wilderness for a hunting game with no realistic chances of escape.

Halcombe pursues the killer with help of Cindy Paulson (Vanessa Hudgens), a seventeen year old runaway turned prostitute, who escaped the clutches of the killer after a struggle. Robert (or “Bob”) Hansen (John Cusack) is the prime suspect, but Hansen is a father of two, the owner/manager of a popular bakery, and he’s a respected member of the community, so Halcombe’s going to have a tough time trying to convince his peers of Hansen living a double-life as a cold-blooded killer.

Halcombe races against the clock to stop Hansen’s murderous rampage, and Halcmobe is tormented by the possibility of breaking a promise to his wife, Allie (Radha Mitchell). Meanwhile, without help or a reliable support system, Cindy is stuck in a trap with her pimp, Clate (50 Cent). Will Halcombe catch Hansen before it’s too late?

Nicolas Cage leads the way for this cast with a solid and convincing performance in the leading role. Hudgens deserves a lot of credit for a strong effort as Cindy. Embracing Cindy’s trashy look and persona helped, and Hudgens was able to show some believable welded tears. 50 Cent? Yeah, I can’t say too much about him. His character is the stereotypical street pimp, and that’s about it. And Mitchell doesn’t receive a significant amount of screen time, just a few sporadic appearances here and there, that’s it. Cusack is menacing, as a wolf in sheep’s clothing. He showcased his versatility with the portrayal of a seemingly innocnet father and husband, and Cusack smoothly switches gears to the callous murderer in the blink of an eye.

I didn’t have a big problem with The Frozen Ground, but I can’t ignore the truth: The Frozen Ground is another generic and formulaic murder mystery/drama film based on true events. You can see every twist and turn coming from a mile away, and they slowly go through the motions step by step until the credits start rolling. At times, The Frozen Ground is a laborious chore to sit through, and the one hour and forty five minutes runtime feels like a LONG three hours, because I can’t count the number of times I checked the clock with an exasperated “Is it over yet?” look.

Still, I won’t go with a negative score. The Frozen Ground is harmless, and more importantly, without a strong and admirable effort from Hudgens, and two solid performances from the veterans (Cage and Cusack), The Frozen Ground could’ve been a lot worse.

Rating: 5/10

Michael Jordan had another run with the Wizards after winning six championships. Brett Favre was one step away from earning a second ring with the Vikings.

As the world's definitive multi-talented superstar athlete, Trisha Bunrastar is taking an unexpected and shocking leap into a new career path. Assuming the identity of Freechelle Fantabulous, Trisha vows to fight crime and battle evildoers as a superheroine. Will she conquer her new mission? Find out more here! http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFLI6VK

Or take a trip into my special world of madness that includes comedy, horror, and the supernatural in this collection of short stories- http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFMYZ0U

And remember Amazon offers free Kindle App downloads for various platforms. Follow this link to find out more- http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000493771

Follow me on Twitter here- https://twitter.com/LQuigleyFan1

And don't forget to like both of my Facebook pages, because the Mitch MacReady 2 Facebook page includes quotes from both ebooks that can't fit into Tweets- https://www.facebook.com/mitch.macready

The Frozen Ground (2013)(Spoiler Review)

**This review contains spoilers**

In 1983, Sergeant Jack Halcombe (Nicolas Cage) leads an investigation in Anchorage, Alaska to catch a merciless serial killer. The killer targets young women and prostitutes by luring them to his home with money. Here, the killer beats, tortures, and rapes his victims. To fulfill his sadistic blood lust, the killer forces his broken victims into the wilderness for a hunting game with no realistic chances of escape.

Sergeant Halcombe is stuck on a dead end road, until a young Cindy Paulson (Vanessa Hudgens) changes everything. At the age of seventeen, Cindy is a runaway, who works as a prostitute, but Cindy refuses a polygraph, and Cindy is terrified at the thought of testifying in court. Halcombe reopens closed cases for murders linked to the killer, and Halcombe’s research leads him to one man. Robert (or “Bob”) Hansen (John Cusack) is the prime suspect, but Hansen is a respected and popular member of the community. Hansen is a married man with two children, and he’s the owner/manager of a local bakery, so Halcombe’s going to have a tough time trying to convince his peers of Hansen living a double-life as a cold-blooded killer.

Cindy is stuck in the clutches of her pimp, Clate (50 Cent), and with two weeks left in his tenure as Sergeant, Halcombe races against the clock to put Hansen behind bars. Holcombe promised his wife, Allie (Radha Mitchell) a new life after quitting the force, but after his conscience kicks in, Halcombe refuses to leave the case unsolved.

Hansen will do anything to stop Cindy from talking, and Halcombe runs into some trouble for acquiring the essential search warrant from the District Attorney, Pat Clives (Kurt Fuller). Meanwhile, Cindy descends into a downward spiral of drug abuse, and misery at her new job as a stripper. Will Halcombe catch Hansen before it’s too late?

Nicolas Cage leads the way for this cast with a solid and convincing performance in the leading role. Hudgens deserves a lot of credit for a strong effort as Cindy. Embracing Cindy’s trashy look and persona helped, and Hudgens was able to show some believable welded tears. 50 Cent? Yeah, I can’t say too much about him. His character is the stereotypical street pimp, and that’s about it. And Mitchell doesn’t receive a significant amount of screen time, just a few sporadic appearances here and there, that’s it. Cusack is menacing, as a wolf in sheep’s clothing. He showcased his versatility with the portrayal of a seemingly innocnet father and husband, and Cusack smoothly switches gears to the callous murderer in the blink of an eye.

Hard to pick out a true “moment” in The Frozen Ground, but if I had to go with one, I would choose the scene where Cindy finally confronts Robert after the rape. We’re in the final moments of the movie, and Halcombe has Hansen backed into a corner, but Cindy is the clincher. Hansen is forced to endure INTENSE pressure during the interrogations……and Cindy walks through the door . Cindy wanted to prove she wasn’t afraid of Hansen anymore, and the sight of Cindy enraged Hansen. During a nasty tirade, Hansen was disgusted at himself for letting Cindy slip through his fingers, and after Hansen’s outburst, Halcombe finally had the (unintentional) testimony he was looking for.

There was a sense of relief during this scene, because The Frozen Ground constantly teased the possibility of Hansen escaping without any problems towards the end. Hansen thought he was brilliant. He was confident he would walk as a free man with no problems, so watching this despicable lowlife crumble under his own diabolical ego provided the highlight for rewarding moments in The Frozen Ground. Hansen’s lawyer has this shocked look on his face, everyone in the room is speechless, and Cindy refuses to break eye contact with Hansen. You can feel the tension, and it’s almost impossible to ignore the disturbed mood in this scene.

I didn’t have a big problem with The Frozen Ground, but I can’t ignore the truth: The Frozen Ground is another generic and formulaic murder mystery/drama film based on true events. You can see every twist and turn coming from a mile away, and they slowly go through the motions step by step until the credits start rolling. At times, The Frozen Ground is a laborious chore to sit through, and the one hour and forty five minutes runtime feels like a LONG three hours, because I can’t count the number of times I checked the clock with an exasperated “Is it over yet?” look.

Still, I won’t go with a negative score. The Frozen Ground is harmless, and more importantly, without a strong and admirable effort from Hudgens, and two solid performances from the veterans (Cage and Cusack), The Frozen Ground could’ve been a lot worse.

Rating: 5/10

Michael Jordan had another run with the Wizards after winning six championships. Brett Favre was one step away from earning a second ring with the Vikings.

As the world's definitive multi-talented superstar athlete, Trisha Bunrastar is taking an unexpected and shocking leap into a new career path. Assuming the identity of Freechelle Fantabulous, Trisha vows to fight crime and battle evildoers as a superheroine. Will she conquer her new mission? Find out more here! http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFLI6VK

Or take a trip into my special world of madness that includes comedy, horror, and the supernatural in this collection of short stories- http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFMYZ0U

And remember Amazon offers free Kindle App downloads for various platforms. Follow this link to find out more- http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000493771

Follow me on Twitter here- https://twitter.com/LQuigleyFan1

And don't forget to like both of my Facebook pages, because the Mitch MacReady 2 Facebook page includes quotes from both ebooks that can't fit into Tweets- https://www.facebook.com/mitch.macready

The Raven (2012)(Minor Spoilers Review)

**This review contains MINOR spoilers, no major reveals, character deaths, or plot twists**

It’s 1849, and in Baltimore, Maryland Edgar Allan Poe (John Cusack) is recruited by Detective Fields (Luke Evans) to catch a killer inspired by Poe’s work. With each murder, the killer reenacts Poe’s tales, short stories, and poems with a helpless victim, who’s forced to suffer through it all.

Poe is forced to take a more hands on approach in the ongoing investigation, when the killer targets his fiance Emily Hamilton (Alice Eve), and Emily’s father, Captain Charles Hamilton (Brendan Gleeson) will have to put aside his bitter feelings for Poe. Fields and Poe work together to decipher the killer’s tricky puzzles, but the killer is one step ahead of them before each murder……

I think it’s safe to say John Cusack delivers the best performance here. Cusack is this nutty and delusional alcoholic with a snarky sense of humor at first, but as the story progresses, Cusack shows a more serious side. And during the finale, Cusack was believable, as this desperate and heartbroken man. Evans isn’t bad, but he doesn’t deserve too much of the blame. Basically, Evans is supposed to be this ingenious inspector/detective, and Evans gave it his all with the Fields character, but the character is way too generic, dull, and one dimensional. Gleeson has his moments as the strict father, and Eve delivers a solid performance as Emily.

The Raven is loaded with a lot familiar tropes. The obsessive and delusional fan, who kills in honor of  their idol (for a random example, think about The Fan with Robert De Niro and Wesley Snipes), the supposedly cunning detective (Fields), the amateur (Poe), who’s forced to help solve the case, and I can’t forget about the typical rivalry between the overbearing father (Charles) and the unworthy boyfriend or husband (Poe). The Raven is filled with a lot of noticeable clichés, and it’s almost impossible to ignore them all.

Still, I enjoyed The Raven. Yeah, The Raven has some problems, but the whodunit game of cat and mouse is intriguing enough to hold your attention and keep you guessing until the very end. The Pit And The Pendulum scene (you’ll know it, when you see it) is pretty graphic and nasty, but overall, the blood and gore isn’t too disgusting or cringeworthy. Plus, Poe fans should appreciate The Raven’s numerous attempts to pay homage to Poe’s poetry and short stories, because The Raven is able to pay tribute to Poe, while working his more memorable and recognizable stuff into the current storylines. The Raven’s disappointing finale is a real shame, though. I’m tempted to go with a higher score, but the big reveal at the end needed more zing for a real payoff.

Rating: 6/10

Looking for a change from Batman, Spider-Man, and Iron Man? Then get know the world's newest superheroine Freechelle Fantabulous for only $0.99 by following the link- http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFLI6VK

Or take a trip into world of madness that includes comedy, horror, and the supernatural in my book of short stories, also only $0.99-  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFMYZ0U

And remember Amazon offers free Kindle App downloads for various platforms. Follow this link to find out more- http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000493771

Follow me on Twitter here- https://twitter.com/LQuigleyFan1

And don't forget to like both of my Facebook pages, because the Mitch MacReady 2 Facebook page includes quotes from both ebooks that can't fit into Tweets-

https://www.facebook.com/mitch.macready

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mitch-Macready-2/439846799459035?ref=hl

The Raven (2012)(Spoiler Review)

**This review contains spoilers**

It’s 1849, and in Baltimore, Maryland Edgar Allan Poe (John Cusack) is recruited by Detective Fields ( Luke Evans) to catch a killer inspired by Poe’s work. With each murder, the killer reenacts Poe’s tales, short stories, and poems with a helpless victim, who’s forced to suffer through it all.

Eventually, the killer’s obsession with Poe hits too close to home. Using The Masque Of The Red Death as his inspiration, the killer kidnaps Poe’s fiance, Emily Hamilton (Alice Eve) during her father’s annual masquerade ball. Furious, Captain Charles Hamilton (Brendan Gleeson) blames Poe for his daughter's kidnapping, but Captain Hamilton and Poe are forced to put aside their bitter feelings for each other to rescue Emily.

For his grand finale, the killer plans to torture and murder Emily by carefully following the steps in one of Poe’s more famous short stories. To make the game more interesting, the killer leaves a trail of clues including more dead bodies. Will Detective Fields and Poe solve the mystery and save Emily’s life before it’s too late?

I think it’s safe to say John Cusack delivers the best performance here. Cusack is this nutty and delusional alcoholic with a snarky sense of humor at first, but as the story progresses, Cusack shows a more serious side. And during the finale, Cusack was believable, as this desperate and heartbroken man. Evans isn’t bad, but he doesn’t deserve too much of the blame. Basically, Evans is supposed to be this ingenious inspector/detective, and Evans gave it his all with the Fields character, but the character is way too generic, dull, and one dimensional. Gleeson has his moments as the strict father, and Eve delivers a solid performance as Emily.

So I was on the edge of my seat during the grand finale for the reveal of the killer. After solving all the riddles and puzzles, Poe races to the local newspaper to confront the killer with a gun, forcing the killer to reveal Emily’s location. At first, we’re lead to believe it’s the editor in chief, but Poe spots his dismembered corpse sitting in front of a desk. The light bulb goes off in his head, and Poe turns around to see the real killer: Ivan Reynolds (Sam Hazeldine). Long story short, Reynolds is a pesky Edgar Allan Poe fanboy, who works under the editor in chief at the newspaper. Anyway,  Reynolds wanted to motivate a struggling and depressed Poe, so as his biggest fan, Reynolds decided to give Poe a much needed wake up call.

Let’s say a special someone decides to cook a mystery dinner for you. Candles are set, you’re dressed for a special occasion, and this special someone won’t stop bragging about the meal they cooked for you. A covered dish is placed in front of you, and when this special someone removes the top, you see a grilled chicken sandwich and some steamed potatoes in front of you. Reynolds is the grilled chicken sandwich and steamed potatoes. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not one of those awful twists that can ruin a movie. The Raven does a good job of throwing some thought-provoking curveballs at you, and the steady, methodical pacing towards the finale really helps you feel the tension and suspense, but the Reynolds reveal is so underwhelming. I was expecting filet mignon with a loaded baked potato, or a succulent lobster meal, but in the end, The Raven didn’t deliver.

Also, The Raven is loaded with a lot familiar tropes. The obsessive and delusional fan, who kills in honor of  their idol (for a random example, think about The Fan with Robert De Niro and Wesley Snipes), the supposedly cunning detective (Fields), the amateur (Poe), who’s forced to help solve the case, and I can’t forget about the typical rivalry between the overbearing father (Charles) and the unworthy boyfriend or husband (Poe). The Raven is filled with a lot of noticeable clichés, and it’s almost impossible to ignore them all.

Still, I enjoyed The Raven. Yeah, The Raven has some problems, but the whodunit game of cat and mouse is intriguing enough to hold your attention and keep you guessing until the very end. The Pit And The Pendulum scene (you’ll know it, when you see it) is pretty graphic and nasty, but overall, the blood and gore isn’t too disgusting or cringeworthy. Plus, Poe fans should appreciate The Raven’s numerous attempts to pay homage to Poe’s poetry and short stories (The Pit And The Pendulum, The Masque Of The Red Death, The Tell-Tale Heart, etc.), because The Raven is able to pay tribute to Poe, while working his more memorable and recognizable stuff into the current storylines. The Raven’s disappointing finale is a real shame, though. I’m tempted to go with a higher score, but the big reveal at the end needed more zing for a real payoff.

Rating: 6/10

Looking for a change from Batman, Spider-Man, and Iron Man? Then get know the world's newest superheroine Freechelle Fantabulous for only $0.99 by following the link- http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFLI6VK

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