Generic, clichéd, and gimmicky.

Rating: 5/10 (8 March 2013)

The plot: A young man is drawn into the mystery of a haunted house and a hateful, vengeful ghost.
The Woman in Black is a rather generic, clichéd, and gimmicky movie. Although the tension and atmosphere slowly ramp up to admirable levels, it's all for naught, as it ALWAYS results in some cheap and gimmicky jump scare. I can totally understand how this would work to startle you early in the movie, but, after an hour of constant jump scares, it just gets tedious. When the movie didn't depend on these jump scares, the scenes were generally effective at establishing a creepy mood, even though it resorted such overused, clichéd elements as old toys, rocking chairs rocking themselves, and silent, ghostly children.
The plot was incredibly simplistic, and it was explained several times throughout the movie, in case you weren't paying attention the previous times. Everything is spoon-fed to the audience, with absolutely no attempt at subtlety. I wasn't really expecting anything else, though, as movies based on Gothic Romanticism are traditionally weighed down by tradition demanding that they include every single cliché imaginable.
The acting was a bit of a mixed bag. Daniel Radcliffe was incredibly wooden, and he seemed to have only one facial expression (dull surprise) for the entire movie. Seeing as how he was playing a very depressed, repressed, and distressed individual, this may or may not be excusable, depending on whether you're a fan or not. The other actors were more animated and alive, though they didn't really have a whole lot to work with. Most frustrating, perhaps, was the token rationalist. Although he serves as friend, mentor, and sidekick, depending on the needs of the scene, his main purpose is to be proved wrong and admit that he was always in denial about his belief. This is incredibly lazy writing.
I had high hopes for James Watkins, after seeing Eden Lake, but this is a movie for young Harry Potter fans, who will squeal with fright and then laugh nervously, after every cheap jump scare. If you're older than Daniel Radcliffe, I would suggest that you avoid this movie. I always thought that Jane Goldman was a hack and Daniel Radcliffe was wooden, and this movie does nothing but confirm my previous beliefs.