A gothic fantasy with a tint of Burton and Depp tries to bring an old flame back to light. Barnabus Collins a wealthy playboy of old strutting his stuff in 1772 and breaking many hearts, including that of a family servent Angelique. When Barnabus tries to put his illustrious conquests behind him and settle with the love of his life Josette, Angelique puts her own wicked twist into play pushing Josette to take her own life and cursing Barnabus to an eternity of hellish life as a vampire. Barnabus is forced to slumber within in a coffin yet accidentally he is one day awoken 200 years later in 1972 to find the Collins family struggling and Angelique still plauging his family. Barnabus must step up, adjust to the new era and his own 'drinking' problem long enough to cease the curse forced upon his descendants and bring the Collins name back to its wealthy routes.
Johnny Depp takes to the cloak of Barnabus Collins with vampiric thirst and with his usual quirk of character he gives the darkly entertaining and amusing out-of-time vampire alive... again. Although at times the problem with Barnabus is the turn of character and for once Depp can't seem to give the character that lovable charm AND the menacing touch, leaving Barnabus in the middle and trying to appeal to too many fans. Michelle Pfeiffer brings the strong matriarchal Elizabeth Collins character who will do anything for her family and with that the main support for Depp as the second largest play the film has to offer. Another stand out performance comes from Eva Green's Angelique Bouchard the witch who continues to roast the Collins family, Green manages to make the sorceress playful, unlikable and at the same time even emotional, making her another power play for Burton's choice of stars. Unlike the usual turn Helena-Bonham Carter gives, Her character Julia Hoffman a doctor employed by the Collins feels empty and fairly uselessly left in the background with little purpose, but a poor character isn't necessarily Bonham-Carter's problem. Other than the main group of stars the rest fell rather null and void for what you'd expect from Burton's usual cast even the amazing Chloe Grace Moretz feels empty and annoying, her own story has potential but too much focus is drawn on other characters that aren't even as well characterized or even relevant to the overall story.
Burton's design and style are well at home in the world of Dark Shadows but the usual style that would more often than not bring out fans of the gothic hero seems overused while at the same time too drastically missing where it's needed. Depp brings up the most reasonable forms of entertainment but even the character of Barnabus seems to flawed in his development to hang the whole film on. In the same vain as Alice in Wonderland and Charlie and the Chocolate factory Burton plays too much into his overabundant style rather than the heart of the story he's trying to tell (in this case and those 'retelling') while you can't doubt the iconic and eye catching scenery and world he creates, the driving nature and inhabitants are very much flawed to the point where the film has no real driving force to it. While many will see Dark Shadows to get that Burton fix and dark and energetic craze that their used to, the majority will leave disappointed with his latest blast of eccentric and misleading slice of entertainment. If you're looking for something to really sink another undead bite into and haven't had enough of the vampires thriving in hollywood it might offer you another few hours, though if you're looking for anything else, Dark Shadows is one to miss.
4 / 10
FIN.
Johnny Depp takes to the cloak of Barnabus Collins with vampiric thirst and with his usual quirk of character he gives the darkly entertaining and amusing out-of-time vampire alive... again. Although at times the problem with Barnabus is the turn of character and for once Depp can't seem to give the character that lovable charm AND the menacing touch, leaving Barnabus in the middle and trying to appeal to too many fans. Michelle Pfeiffer brings the strong matriarchal Elizabeth Collins character who will do anything for her family and with that the main support for Depp as the second largest play the film has to offer. Another stand out performance comes from Eva Green's Angelique Bouchard the witch who continues to roast the Collins family, Green manages to make the sorceress playful, unlikable and at the same time even emotional, making her another power play for Burton's choice of stars. Unlike the usual turn Helena-Bonham Carter gives, Her character Julia Hoffman a doctor employed by the Collins feels empty and fairly uselessly left in the background with little purpose, but a poor character isn't necessarily Bonham-Carter's problem. Other than the main group of stars the rest fell rather null and void for what you'd expect from Burton's usual cast even the amazing Chloe Grace Moretz feels empty and annoying, her own story has potential but too much focus is drawn on other characters that aren't even as well characterized or even relevant to the overall story.
Burton's design and style are well at home in the world of Dark Shadows but the usual style that would more often than not bring out fans of the gothic hero seems overused while at the same time too drastically missing where it's needed. Depp brings up the most reasonable forms of entertainment but even the character of Barnabus seems to flawed in his development to hang the whole film on. In the same vain as Alice in Wonderland and Charlie and the Chocolate factory Burton plays too much into his overabundant style rather than the heart of the story he's trying to tell (in this case and those 'retelling') while you can't doubt the iconic and eye catching scenery and world he creates, the driving nature and inhabitants are very much flawed to the point where the film has no real driving force to it. While many will see Dark Shadows to get that Burton fix and dark and energetic craze that their used to, the majority will leave disappointed with his latest blast of eccentric and misleading slice of entertainment. If you're looking for something to really sink another undead bite into and haven't had enough of the vampires thriving in hollywood it might offer you another few hours, though if you're looking for anything else, Dark Shadows is one to miss.
4 / 10
FIN.
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