Monday, January 14, 2013

Dark Shadows or The First Tim Burton/Johnny Depp Film I Didn't Enjoy


Dark Shadows
Director: Tim Burton
Starring: Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Eva Green
Box Office: $234,211,160 (Worldwide)
DVD Review

It took me a long time to see this film. Usually when a Tim Burton/Johnny Depp collaboration is released, I am the first one there to see it. I love Burton's work; especially when he collaborates with Depp. Something magical happens when they put their two crazy, inventive, off-the-wall minds together. I'm not sure why I didn't see this film in theatre. It was only out for a few weeks (which is never a good sign for a film) and we had more pressing films that needed to be seen on our Summer Movie List.

I finally watched Dark Shadows last week, and I wasn't impressed with what I saw.Visually, it was everything you could ask for from Burton. Dark scenes contrasted with bright, vibrant colours and strong use of props made the entire film pleasing on the eyes. However, it couldn't mask the dryness and dullness of the story. It breaks my heart to say it, but this film was boring.

A young Barnabas Collins (Depp), along with his parents, sets sail from Liverpool, England to America to start a new life, however, the family is unable to escape a mysterious curse that has plagued their family for years. Twenty years go by and Barnabas is now a wealthy man with the entire town of Collinsport, Maine at his feet. He is the master of Collinwood Manor and a rich a powerful playboy until he makes the grave mistake of breaking the heart of Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green) who turns out to be a witch. Angelique curses Barnabas with a fate worst than death; she turns him into a vampire and buries him alive. In 1972, two hundred years later, Barnabas is freed from his tomb, learning the world is a very different place from what he remembered. He returns to Collinwood Manor to find it is in dire straits and the dysfunctional family that remains each have their own dark secrets to hide. Barnabas reveals his true self to Elizabeth (Pfeiffer) the matriarch of the family who allows him to stay as long as he never reveals her secret or the fact that he is a vampire to the rest of the family. Just as Barnabas is getting things turned around for the Collins family, Angelique returns to reek havoc on him and everyone he loves, including the young and innocent Victoria (Bella Heathcote), the Collins family's recently hired governess, who happens to be the reincarnation of Barnabas' past love, Josette.


The biggest flaw with this film was it failed to capture the same campy-ness that the TV show introduced to the world in 1966. The charm from the original story failed to translate to the big screen in this almost two hour film. Though there were some clever "culture shock" type jokes, the remainder of the comedic side of the film, fell flat. The drama was there, it just got lost in the camp. Individually, these genres would have worked. Unfortunately, when mixed together, it fizzled.

The acting as whole, was strong. It's rare to see Depp in a role where he doesn't shine, but this was definitely not his best. This film was another in a fairly long list of movies that revolve around whoever Depp's character may be. It works sometimes (Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, Sleepy Hollow, etc.) but in this case it was too forced. Helena Bonham-Carter and Michelle Pfeiffer provided supporting characters that could keep up with Depp's crazy antics. And though newer actors Chloe Grace Moretz and Eva Green were decent, their characters were bland and fell through the cracks. Great to see some cameo type appearances from Christopher Lee (who is a frequent collaborator of Burton) and Alice Cooper were nice touches but couldn't save this sinking story.

Final Verdict: Skip it. A very dull story that will only capture your attention visually. Even Burton (and Burton/Depp) fans will not be happy with the outcome of this film. Though it will not deter me from looking forward to their next collaboration. If you are interested in a great Burton/Depp film, check out any one of their other past seven films they have done together:


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