Theatrical Reivew: DARK SHADOWS

I don’t get the whole “Let’s hate on Johnny Depp and Tim Burton films!“ fad. Doesn’t make sense to me. Yeah, I’ll agree that they need to do more projects outside of each other (especially Burton) and that their union has steadily produced less-than-stellar results over the years but they have made some solid films together. There’s no denying or arguing that.

EDWARD SCISSORHANDS, SLEEPY HOLLOW, SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET, and ED WOOD are the clear high points. Anyone who argues otherwise obviously has an intense dislike/hatred for beautiful visuals, touching stories, and filmmaking on a grand scale. I feel sorry for those people.

Only THE CORPSE BRIDE and CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY fail to truly impress and that’s mostly because the former was missing Henry Selick (the actual director of THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS) and the latter was a remake of a film that was perfect to begin with.

Then there’s ALICE IN WONDERLAND. I realize it made like a billion dollars at the box office and is beloved by pre-teen girls and stoners around the world but I hated it. I’ve even revisited it a couple of times since it’s theatrical release to see if it would grow on and …nope. Film still sucks. Murky, muddy, ugly, and dire. A criminal misuse of both Burton and Depp.

Which brings me to the duo’s reinterpretation of the cult classic soap opera DARK SHADOWS. If WONDERLAND didn’t exist and wasn’t pegging the bottom of the Depp/Burton barrel like a lead weight, SHADOWS most certainly would be. This is not the duo’s finest hour.

Click on the pic to check out my full review…