Rating of
2/4
Review: Dark Shadows
MikePA - wrote on 09/23/12
Tim Burton's Dark Shadows is a good-looking mess. Like a lot of Burton's films, there is a strict focus on visuals and production design over plot and characters, but in many of them you can still get a little bit of heart out of it through its main character. Dark Shadows is devoid of heart. And interesting characters. And enjoyment. All Dark Shadows tires to deliver successfully is comedy, eye-popping visuals, and another interesting performance by Johnny Depp. Honestly, I didn't laugh much, my eyes didn't pop much, and I've seen Depp in better movies. Therefore, Dark Shadows was a dud for me.
The film employs a bunch of talented actors who everybody loves to see - including Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Jackie Earle Haley, Chloe Grace Moretz, and Michelle Pfeiffer - but are poorly served by the script. Putting aside an opening sequence involving Depp's character, Barnabas Collins, the characters barely have any depth or development. Some of them play as background puppets, just there for the sake of being there. There are three or four good laughs, but many of them fall flat. I was hoping that Jackie Earle Haley's character would provide some comic relief, but sadly he just stands around like an oaf and answers the door.
The film doesn't take any turns. It's just a flat and bland experience. After the interesting opening with Barnabas, we meet a character named Vicky, who stays at the Collins' home to counsel a boy named David. Once Barnabas comes into play and returns to the house after resurrecting from his grave, that piece of plot is never again explored. Vicky doesn't even show up that much. She's just thrown in a couple times in the end. In the final scene, we're expected to care about Vicky when she is put in a situation. Give me a freakin' break.
I like Tim Burton as an art director, but I only like him as a real director when he has ambition, like in his films Sweeney Todd, Sleepy Hollow, Ed Wood, and Edward Scissorhands, which were all fantastic movies. He shows no ambition here. Are the visuals great? Yes. Is the art direction top-notch? Of course. The production? The cinematography? The soundtrack? Yes, yes, yes, all very good. That's all Tim Burton knows how to handle successfully with any film he makes. After Frankenweenie, I want his next movie to be dark, edgy, and character-driven like his four-star film Sweeney Todd.
2/4
