Dark Shadows is directed by Tim Burton and stars Johnny Depp. This is their eighth collaboration, and by now, most people know what to expect when these two men get together. A highly stylized, oddball world populated with strange people, vivid set pieces, and bizarre antics. The movie can be a hit or a miss depending on the actual story, but the visuals and Depp's performance are nearly always flawless. Such is the case with Dark Shadows, a movie that lacks a great story, but is a feast for your eyes.
Dark Shadows was originally a 1960s soap opera that developed into a cult hit. Depp and Burton were huge fans of the series, and no wonder, because it sounds like a Burton movie from the very outset. However, the film's screenplay was written by Seth Grahame-Smith, the author of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. This is not a man renowned for plot and engaging storytelling, since he mostly lifts his material off other authors and throws in some monsters. So what you get is a story that starts off intriguingly enough, but eventually devolves into nothingness.
Depp plays Barnabas Collins, a man who was cursed by a witch in the 1700s after he spurned her for another woman. The witch, Angelique (played by former Bond girl Eva Green), kills his fiancee and turns him into a vampire. Leading an angry mob to his doorstep, Angelique ensures that Barnabas is buried alive in a coffin, where he remains for nearly 200 years until he is accidentally dug up by some construction workers in the year 1972. Barnabas immediately heads for his family mansion and finds the remaining descendants of the Collins family living in a rather dilapidated state as the family business has been steadily declining since the 1700s. Not content with ruining Barnabas's life, Angelique has been working for centuries to destroy his family's business and reputation and has largely taken over the town of Collinsport. What follows is Barnabas's mission to restore his family's honor, get his vengeance upon Angelique, woo the family governess who bears a striking resemblance to his former fiancee, and engage in a lot of humorous confusion over how things have changed since the 1760s.
The movie is initially quite funny and Barnabas' perplexed approach towards 1970s life allows for a good laugh or two. Burton creates a wonderful atmosphere with the gothic Collins mansion in the midst of 1970s America, and the costumes and make-up on Depp and his co-stars, including Michelle Pfeiffer, Bella Heathcote, and of course, Helena Bonham Carter, are just spectacular. The actors all look like they're having a lot of fun, and who can blame them? The characters are ridiculous and over-the-top and very Burton-esque. But the movie's tone veers widely - at first it seems satirical and fun, then it seems like you should be taking this story seriously and the jokes dry up. By the time you get halfway through, you've already figured out how this story has to end, and you're just wearily plodding to the finish line.
Dark Shadows is a fine example of Tim Burton's aesthetic, and I'm sure it looks especially gorgeous on a big screen. But his films are also meant to be entertaining, and Dark Shadows does not deliver. Give this movie a try if you want to see Depp in yet another wholeheartedly kooky performance, but don't expect anything more. There are only so many ways to tell a vampire story.
Dark Shadows was originally a 1960s soap opera that developed into a cult hit. Depp and Burton were huge fans of the series, and no wonder, because it sounds like a Burton movie from the very outset. However, the film's screenplay was written by Seth Grahame-Smith, the author of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. This is not a man renowned for plot and engaging storytelling, since he mostly lifts his material off other authors and throws in some monsters. So what you get is a story that starts off intriguingly enough, but eventually devolves into nothingness.
Depp plays Barnabas Collins, a man who was cursed by a witch in the 1700s after he spurned her for another woman. The witch, Angelique (played by former Bond girl Eva Green), kills his fiancee and turns him into a vampire. Leading an angry mob to his doorstep, Angelique ensures that Barnabas is buried alive in a coffin, where he remains for nearly 200 years until he is accidentally dug up by some construction workers in the year 1972. Barnabas immediately heads for his family mansion and finds the remaining descendants of the Collins family living in a rather dilapidated state as the family business has been steadily declining since the 1700s. Not content with ruining Barnabas's life, Angelique has been working for centuries to destroy his family's business and reputation and has largely taken over the town of Collinsport. What follows is Barnabas's mission to restore his family's honor, get his vengeance upon Angelique, woo the family governess who bears a striking resemblance to his former fiancee, and engage in a lot of humorous confusion over how things have changed since the 1760s.
The movie is initially quite funny and Barnabas' perplexed approach towards 1970s life allows for a good laugh or two. Burton creates a wonderful atmosphere with the gothic Collins mansion in the midst of 1970s America, and the costumes and make-up on Depp and his co-stars, including Michelle Pfeiffer, Bella Heathcote, and of course, Helena Bonham Carter, are just spectacular. The actors all look like they're having a lot of fun, and who can blame them? The characters are ridiculous and over-the-top and very Burton-esque. But the movie's tone veers widely - at first it seems satirical and fun, then it seems like you should be taking this story seriously and the jokes dry up. By the time you get halfway through, you've already figured out how this story has to end, and you're just wearily plodding to the finish line.
Dark Shadows is a fine example of Tim Burton's aesthetic, and I'm sure it looks especially gorgeous on a big screen. But his films are also meant to be entertaining, and Dark Shadows does not deliver. Give this movie a try if you want to see Depp in yet another wholeheartedly kooky performance, but don't expect anything more. There are only so many ways to tell a vampire story.
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