I'm impressed

Rating: 7/10 (4 February 2014)

The Woman in Black tells the story of a young lawyer whose wife passes away and leaves him to raise their son alone with the help of a nanny. The lawyer travels out of town to a remote village where he discovers that a ghost of an angry woman is terrorizing the town. More specifically, the town's children. The lawyer attempts to save the town and give this demonic presence what she's been searching for.
Visually the film looks great. It's filled with interesting locations, beautiful lighting scenarios and very believable costume design. The look of the film was very intriguing using a sort of haze or light fog over much of the images. You certainly want to know more about the mysterious town and our traveling lawyer. The film was marketed as a horror/thriller which I do believe suits it well. Audience reaction in the showing was through the roof with the film being filled with jumps and jolts from its viewers. The sudden movement and sound kept viewers on their toes and kept them plugged in into what would otherwise be a very slow film. I will even go as far as to say that Daniel Radcliffe did a good job with the script that was given to him. I bought into the idea that he was a father, a lawyer and a very confused and curious man.
However I don't believe all of these positive things saved the film from the most important thing; the story itself. The storyline contained so many holes and characters that led absolutely no where. It was one of those films that was building and building and once we got to the peak we realized that the foundation was way too weak for all of that time and anticipation. I would have to spoil the entire film to really get into it, and I just don't want to do that because I don't think its a movie that you should not see. You may love it. It's a toss up. I just wish the plot had a bit more substance and mythology into its main back story and main points.
I do believe this will keep Daniel working though. His performance, however not the strongest, proves that he has enough in him to be more than the boy with the scar on his head.