Dark Shadows Reviews

The Collaboration of Tim Burton and Johnny Depp has given us some great cinematic moments in the last 2 Decades. With Dark Shadows they complete their 9th films together and honestly I feel it's high time that they part their ways. Dark Shadows is by far the worst film by the duo. The Magic was simply missing and the mediocre approach is surprising. So neither it becomes epic like ED Wood nor beautiful as Sleepy Hollow or dark as Sweeney Todd or deep as Edward Scissor-hands instead Dark Shadows is plain and ordinary.
It's about Barnabas Collins the Vampire who after being held captive inside a Coffin for 2 centuries ( 196 Years to be precise) becomes free in 1970s. Now how he manages to restore the fate of the Collin family and Punishes the evil witch Angelique, forms the drama of nearly 2 hours.
There are a lot of problems with the film. The plot is ludicrous and thin like a paper, the narrative is surprisingly so unimaginative, direction is indifferent and acting is too melodramatic and loud. So ensemble cast of so many talented actors seemed too depended on Depp and the ridiculous screenplay does not help them either.

The story does bring out occasional laughs here & there but unfortunately they are too few and the ace director employs some cheap tricks to give the weak screenplay a funny touch and that is so unlike Tim Burton. Johnny Depp is the life of the otherwise ordinary screenplay and he does full justice to the role, infact I feel he was really very good amidst pretty mediocre acting by the impressive cast. But the real concern with Johnny Depp is that off let where he is as usual brilliant in his performances, his films are all too average. It's now sometime that we have got a good film from him.

I love the work of Tim Burton and I was really offbit about this one despite pretty average reviews but to put it nicely I am disappointed. Where as this is not a bad film at all but at the same time nothing to speak of really.
I am going 6 out of 10 for Tim Burton's Dark Shadows, the ever impressive director misses it big time.

In the 1700s, the Collins Family travel to the New World where they set down permanent roots and establish a successful fishing enterprise. When Barnabas Collins (Depp) falls in love with the beautiful Josette (Heathcote), jealous witch Angelique (Green) enacts a curse which leaves Josette dead and turns Barnabas into an unwitting bloodsucker who's buried alive by the pitchfork-waving community. When Barnabas is finally set loose from his coffin two centuries later in 1972, his beloved mansion and the Collins name is in disarray. Looking to restore the family name, Barnabas tries to motivate his dysfunctional descendants into action, all the while bonding with the family's new governess Victoria (Heathcote again) who bears a strong resemblance to his long-lost love Josette. Meanwhile, Angelique hears that Barnabas is back above the ground. Having been infatuated with him for centuries, Angelique vows that she will either have him for herself once and for all, or destroy him for good.

Structurally, Dark Shadows is confused and jumbled, as screenwriter Seth Grahame-Smith tried to squeeze as many character arcs, secrets and relationships as he could from 1,200 TV episodes into one self-contained feature. The problem is felt most glaringly in the subplot concerning Victoria. We're initially led to believe that Victoria has major significance in the story, yet she barely seems to exists once Barnabas arrives (despite her burgeoning romance with him). For that matter, all of the characters are short changed - this is The Johnny Depp Show, permitting little room for any other players to receive sufficient development. Thus, the film is mainly constituted of scenes which make fun of the fact that Barnabas is either out of place in the 20th Century or is a vampire who experiences life differently. The only actual story and character development happens through montage (including the Barnabas/Victoria romance, for Christ sake). Hell, in the space between two scenes, Barnabas even manages to mysteriously organise an enormous party out of nowhere, even securing Alice Cooper as the party's entertainment. Furthermore, as a result of so little character development, nothing ever seems to be at stake, rendering Dark Shadows hopelessly empty. And when characters suddenly reveal their powers/secrets during the climax, it only leads to several "What the fuck?!" moments.

The key issue with Dark Shadows is one of tone, since the comedic moments are far too broad. It's therefore jarring to see Barnabas mercilessly slaughtering people one moment, and in the next moment seeing a series of sight gags within musical montages. Even more bewildering is a bizarre love scene in which Barnabas and Angelique literally bounce off the walls together. Nothing quite meshes in the movie - imagine the broad comedy of Mars Attacks! playing out between the horrific scenes of Sleepy Hollow. Dark comedy is fine in a movie like this, but a murderous vampire talking about "birthing hips" is not. Burton usually excels at tone, yet he seems positively lost here.

Ironically, the problem may actually be Johnny Depp. The other performers seem to be aiming for a sombre tone, yet Depp is too quirky and broad when he should be dramatic and macabre. Barnabas is established to be a murderer, not a Beetlejuice-like creation better suited for The Addams Family. Out of the cast, the most notable standout is Bella Heathcote. The little-known Australian actress (previously seen in 2010's Beneath Hill 60) possesses a natural beauty and an inherent understanding of drama and romance. She's positively disarming whenever she shows up, so it's a shame that her talents are so underutilised. The rest of the actors are fine, though they, too, lack sufficient opportunities to distinguish themselves. To pay tribute to the television show and vampire movies in general, several original Dark Shadows cast members (including the original Barnabas Collins, Jonathan Frid, who died shortly before the film's release) and Christopher Lee show up for cameos which don't amount to much. Alice Cooper's brief cameo is a highlight, however.

To Tim Burton's credit, he can still orchestrate horror commendably well. When Dark Shadows is dark, it takes off marvellously. The first 20 minutes or so are particularly good - the prologue is spot-on, with sumptuous production values and Danny Elfman's atmospheric score promising that something moody and creepy is to come. Following this, the haunting melodies of the song Nights in White Satin play over the opening credits, which is a masterful touch. What a shame that things subsequently begin to decline. To be sure, Dark Shadows has enough isolated moments of brilliance to ensure that it's worth checking out for fans of Burton and/or Depp. Or perhaps these moments will just prove frustrating to said fans, as they'll only see hints of the limitless potential that the film fails to capitalise upon.

5.4/10

I didn't really know what to expect from this flick before watching it. I mean, I have never seen the TV show it is based on and, frankly, even though I have seen every single movie directed by Tim Burton, it has been a while that he really did blow me away. Furthermore, the (terribly misleading) trailer gave me the feeling that it would be a straight comedy reminiscent of 'The Addams Familly' which wasn't really promising either. Fortunately, it turned out to be actually not bad at after all. Indeed, it was visually really neat, especially the introduction which was some kind of Gothic extravangaza and the tone was just perfect. Furthermore, I really enjoyed Johnny Depp who was quite hilarious and it has been a while since he gave such a solid performance. The rest of the cast was also pretty good but they didn't stand a chance against Depp, except maybe for Eva Green. Still, even though I enjoyed this movie, I was still missing something though. Indeed, there were a few misfires like the sex scene or the concert with Alice Cooper where the tone was gone and they went for the cheap jokes. Furthermore, the ending was rather disappointing as it was a rather boring and uninteresting final fight between the two major protagonists. Still, to conclude, even though it wasn't entirely satisfying, it was still a fairly enjoyable flick and it is worth a look, especially if you like Tim Burton's work.