Los crímenes de la academia

Aburrimiento, aburrimiento, un gran aburrimiento. Una historia que se hace interminable y que no avanza en absoluto y que no tiene nada interesante. Mientras tanto, todo alrededor funciona bien: la cámara, la escenografía, una atmósfera decente, un elenco de actores muy bueno... Pero como tantas veces antes, un guion débil y una historia nula logran arruinarlo todo. Le doy dos estrellas por la última media hora y la resolución final, sin embargo, que no puede sorprender a los lectores de E. A. Poe, ya que aparece en su obra. (09.02.2023)

It turns out that Scott Cooper does need studio oversight, because his biggest problem is his tired and unimaginative direction and his unwillingness to let any material on the cutting room floor (figuratively speaking). The story isn't bad and the finale in particular is very strong, it's just that the overall investigation lacks traction and lurches from one lead to the next without building suspense or anything original. Fortunately, we have the great Bale, who really carries it on his shoulders. Melling handles Poe very convincingly and ably seconds Bale. Shore’s music makes for half the atmosphere. Such a shame because the potential was enormous, especially given the great conclusion. (13.01.2023)

A rather unexciting period piece that is unfortunately too uninteresting for most of its running time to afford to be so slow (and long). I was about to give it two stars, but the final reveal improved the impression a bit. Anyway, it's a shame, had it been written and directed a little more vividly, it could have been a different cinematic experience. (06.01.2023)

Big blue...I know what. Bale is lethargic, Melling plays Poe as if he’s had polio, and it doesn’t help that he looks identical to the master’s iconic likeness. Scott Cooper wrote a florid but hopelessly executed fusion of serious drama and corny horror story involving murders, which under his stiff direction also occasionally seems like a production staged by a university drama club. The would-be melancholic philosophising about the poet’s fate and the half-hearted references to Poe’s work aren’t exactly great either. I was really in the mood for this film, but after a while I found myself cursing and beating my beak against the window of my own nevermore. (14.01.2023)

I found Melling's acting terribly irritating for the first half hour, but then somehow it clicked; he’s a weird guy. I once read somewhere that every person has some equivalent of an animal, in my eyes he is a bat. If there's ever a remake of Nosferatu, I vote for him with all my limbs. Otherwise I really liked the visuals, the real locations, I really liked the candlelight and the eye-catching contrast it created; the atmosphere was delectable, the cold added so much. The pace was ok, I like these slowly told stories, and the twist at the end after the first reveal surprised me. I have no problem with this film, unlike my already oversaturated colleagues here. (22.01.2023)