The Woman In Black

Me and my girlfriend didn't do anything on Valentines, mostly due to me being at work. We did, however, decide that we would make Wednesday night our date night. So Wednesday came around and we went out to see a film, after some debate we chose to see The Woman In Black. This film is excellent and by a classic name like Hammer you would expect it to be so, it's well written, well directed and, for the most part, well acted. It's rated 12 so there's no use of modern gore shocks or over the top violence, in fact nearly all the scares come from the general atmosphere of the film, which really pulls you into the story, keeps you focused and then when you're right there "boom" it gets you, it even succeeded in making me jump on several occasions, not an easy feat.

Now don't get me wrong I really enjoyed this film and, as you can see from the previous paragraph, I rate it highly, but it is far from perfect and by far the worst thing in the film is, unfortunately, Daniel Radcliffe. I really wanted to like him, I grew up with Harry Potter and have very fond memories of the films, but in this his acting was just out of place, out of time and, quite frankly, wooden. He was completely unbelievable in this role and right from the start I felt he was out of place and let the film down. He never really did anything wrong, he just stuck out like a sore thumb. My second, and pretty much only other, major gripe with the film is the last 15 minutes or so, it just seemed completely disconnected from the rest of the film and the explanations present throughout the rest of story seemed to be completely lacking in the last final portion. The story wasn't really wrapped up, it wasn't really left open either, it just kind of ran out. I felt as if the ending was just an after thought, rushed almost and after such a refreshing and enjoyable film I came away feeling slightly disappointed.

Unfortunately I have noticed that it is a common issue with recent films, for the last few years it seems that film makers have forgotten that the most important part of the film is the ending. It's the ending that makes a film believable, a good, well written ending will leave the audience feeling convinced of even the most fantastical subject matters and they will leave the film feeling satisfied and with a much deeper appreciation for the story and characters in it. Hopefully this will be a passing trend, speaking of bad endings this is where I am chosing to end my post... goodnight