Though I am not horror fan, I have
always enjoyed the quirky and noticeably dark work of Tim Burton, my personal
favorites being Sleepy Hollow and Batman Returns; so, needless to say, I
have learned to pay attention whenever he tackles a project. The strongest selling-point for Dark Shadows was the fact that the
upcoming horror-comedy would represent the eighth collaboration between Burton
and Johnny Depp; since the two have together delivered some truly impressive cinematic
characters, it looked like an updated version of Barnabas Collins was deserving
of some attention. With a high-caliber
supporting cast that included familiar names like Michelle Pfeiffer and Helena
Bonham Carter, not to mention other strong character actors like Eva Green (Casino Royale), Jackie Earle Haley (Watchmen; A Nightmare on Elm Street), and Chloë Grace Moretz (Kick-Ass; Hugo), there was plenty of star-power to draw an audience. However, I couldn’t help but feel that Warner
Bros. was coming up short on its marketing campaign by focusing too much on
Johnny Depp and failing to leverage some of the other familiar faces. So, while I wasn’t exactly expecting Dark Shadows to make a huge impression
on the box office, I was still looking forward to a high-quality film.
While there were elements of Dark Shadows that I enjoyed, what should
have been a strong film was crippled by weak and incoherent writing that
obliterated the appeal of every character and lead to an insulting number of
unanswered questions. The production
design, cinematography, and direction are all vintage Tim Burton, but the
appeal of these elements cannot distract from the poor story-telling and
shocking lack of character development. I
am not bashing the acting of the film, as each cast member does their best with
the sub-par material (the two standouts being Depp himself and the Eva Green),
but it is disappointing that no effort was made to expand these characters
beyond base archetypes. It is almost as
if the writers couldn’t decide on the exact tone they wanted to apply to Dark Shadows, as the comedy angle takes
one joke and beats it to death, while the horror focus oversteps a few bounds
and makes it impossible to sympathize with the main character. In the end, I was bitterly disappointed by Dark Shadows, and I doubt that too many
audiences will be willing to forgive this definitive cinematic misstep.
