Dark Shadows is one of those Tim Burton movies that I was very excited to see even before I saw the first trailer. Yet for some reason this was a movie that for some reason things kept coming up and allowed me to keep putting off going to see in the theaters, so I never ended up seeing it in the theaters. Dark Shadows is a big screen version of a soap opera from the 1970's and it is one that I have never heard of, but the fact that a soap opera deals with a vampire is really a kind of funny story idea in and of itself. Tim Burton has the ability to make very strong dark, Gothic movies. Dark Shadows begins with decent gloominess and yet the rest is scattered with a groovy soundtrack and colorful images that really capture the time period of the 1970's very well. The mixture of the gloominess with the time of the 1970's is something that one may not think could work well and I am sure those that did not like Dark Shadows felt like this is where the problem resonated for the movie, but I tend to think that it was in the end a fairly decent movie, but could have had some changes in the end that would have made the movie better in the end.
The story for Dark Shadows while it is based off of a soap opera from the 1970's, since it was source material that I was not familiar with I felt that the initial story had a unique concept to the whole vampire craze that is prevalent. Barnabas Collins, a rich well off playboy in the 1770's, ends up breaking the heart of a witch named Angelique, she curses him to a fate worse then death. She ends up turning him into a vampire, and then burying him alive. Two centuries later, Barnabas is inadvertently freed from his tomb and emerges into the very changed world of 1972. He returns to Collinwood Manor to find that his once-grand estate has fallen into ruin. It looks promising in the beginning, as Tim Burton uses his campy directing style which made the intro intriguing. It get silly when Barnabas returns from his grave. Exploring the changes of his town. It's quite funny and delightful. The problem with this movie is the film can't decide if it is a dark comedy or a Gothic thriller/romance because of this the movie ends up feeling disjointed that is funny at times with a lot of unnecessary exposition. With this film being based on a soap opera I am sure Burton wanted to pay homage to the original and tries to with so many intricate details, but in the end it ends up feeling boring at times from plot point to plot point. Unfortunately, with some of the end of movie surprises they come of as being forced. The pacing is consistent throughout the film and while it felt a little boring at times it is really a fairly short movie time wise that feels longer then its actual run time.
Johnny Depp plays Barnabas Collins and he gives this role the same that he seems to give all of his roles where he is the oddball character. Depp brings a great flair and really plays the fish out of water well, but I really expect nothing less because he has played so many different fish out of water characters. Eva Green in the role of Angelique really works well as a witch who has been spurned and so she is focused on revenge. The chemistry that she had on screen with Depp worked so well and the way that they fed off of each other throughout the film really added a great amount of character depth that would have never shown through if the chemistry between the two rivals of Barnabas and Angelique. Green in the end plays antagonist that you both dislike, but at the same time feel a little sorry for her because she has become the way she has because she is still in love with Barnabas. Of course a Tim Burton movie can not be a movie without his wife Helena Bonham Carter having a role. She plays Doctor Hammond and unfortunately her role is kind of just there and to me kind of had no purpose in the end. The rest of the supporting cast give good performances, and I really did enjoy the roles of the remaining parts of the dysfunctional Collins family.
A definite huge part of any Tim Burton film is the musical score and Dark Shadows is no exception, and Danny Elfman once again provides the musical score for Dark Shadows. Throughout most of the film the movie has a great feel to it, as they have used various music from the 1970's from different genres throughout a lot of the film. I really enjoyed hearing the different music throughout this time period especially since I am a fan of a lot of the older music whether it be rock and roll or other types. The party that is thrown by Barnabas for the people of Collinsport I particularly enjoyed. The enjoyment that I had for this aspect of the film though may be simply because of the fact that Alice Cooper was the musical act. Cooper's cameo really made the finished product of the overall music for the movie work really well. The imagery that Tim Burton creates in his films is breathtaking at how he can take even things in the real world and he makes them ever so vibrant with the addition of vibrant colors. The visuals in Dark Shadows are no exception whether it is the vibrant hair of Dr. Hammond or the bright red dress that Angelique wears to the party that stands out from everyone else just because of how bight the color is, it all works to create a fantastical feel to the movie.
Dark Shadows while I found it to be a good movie it was by far not the best effort that I have seen in a Tim Burton film. The story while I was intrigued by it, it was a little muddled as it felt like it was missing a solid identity. The performances are precisely what one would expect from Depp and others in a film and the musical cameo of Alice Cooper really worked for me. I am giving Dark Shadows three buckets of popcorn out of five. This is one that if you are a fan of Tim Burton that you should rent and have an enjoyable night of watching a decent movie about a vampire.
-The Movie Man
No comments:
Post a Comment