33LikesI have it on DVD just forgot about it. *shrugs*
I forget a lot of things.
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DARK SHADOWS Review
Sadly most of the reviews coming in mirror this. Citing a tone-deaf script handcuffed by Burton holding back trying NOT to be himself yet drowning in all the usual trappings. It will probably do ok simply because of Depp and a lackluster summer movie crop, but for all intents and purposes has the smell of a 'miss'.If only Burton had such success in attempting to blend the gothic and the campy. In some ways, Dark Shadows is Burton exercising some visual restraint. He skews towards the gothic aspects of the visual palette rather than playing up his familiar high-contrast color schemes. When Barnabas attacks the construction workers who unintentionally release him, there’s not a trace of Burton’s trademark style in the mix. I appreciate the director’s desire to back away from becoming a self-parody (or at least more of a self-parody), but he hits a bit of a misstep because he doesn’t know how to put his restraint to dramatic effect. Edward Scissorhands is a brilliantly realized combination of humor and pathos derived from a unique style. Dark Shadows lacks that visual imagination, and more importantly, it doesn’t build a world worth exploring. With Dark Shadows, he lazily embraces the comforts of popular 70s tunes and an Alice Cooper cameo.
Dark Shadows wants to have its blood and drink it too. It wants to build a cast of interesting supporting characters, but it doesn’t want to spend time with them. It wants to be edgy, but it turns around and apologizes for offending. It wants to be funny, but it places the entire comic burden on a few jokes. There’s nothing particularly infuriating about the film, because fury would require passion. Dark Shadows wants to be frightful, but it’s just frightfully dull.
Review: Dark Shadows | CHUD.com
Ouch. I wonder...is the movie really that bad(it could be) or is there a LOT of anger towards Burton(justified).If you love Tim Burton films, especially recent Tim Burton films, take comfort knowing so too does Tim Burton. That can be the only real explanation for Dark Shadows, a film so magnificently up its own ass that it begins as a tonal mess and gleefully works backwards from then on. An adaptation of the popular late-sixties soap, Burton’s latest is another sad entry in an already dwindling and divisive filmography.
There’s simply too much that’s much too wrong with this mess. At a shave under two hours, Dark Shadows wanders in and out of its plot as Burton keeps finding new distractions like some senile old man playing with his goth action figures. Entire arcs are abandoned only to be picked back up at a later time, long after you’ve forgotten enough to care.
Movie Review: Tim Burton’s ‘Dark Shadows’ | Geeks of Doom
Someone want to find me a GOOD review of this one, cause I am striking out.
Tim Burton has become a lazy storyteller. He is a complete fetishist, focused more on the trappings of a story than the story itself. Talk about diminishing returns, it’s hard to believe this is the same man who made heartwarming, hilarious films like Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure, Beetlejuice, and Edward Scissorhands.
It’s as if Burton thinks he can just put Johnny Depp in a room filled with ’70′s crap and we’ll make up our own story in-between all the flat, monotonous jokes. “Oh look how absolutely zany this is! A vampire brushing his teeth in the mirror – if only he could see his reflection!” or “Did you hear that? Johnny Depp just called a lava lamp a pulsating blood urn! He has no idea what it really is!” You sure got us good, Burton.
If there’s any genuine heart in Dark Shadows, it’s buried beneath the countless references to Alice Cooper, Superfly, and Erich Seagal’s Love Story. While it isn’t as offensive as Burton’s adaptations of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or Planet of the Apes, Dark Shadows is a rather limp, lifeless affair.
Honestly, I wish Tim Burton would just retire from filmmaking. In many ways, he already has. He’s a great artist with a unique visual style, but he isn’t a storyteller anymore. When it comes to a Tim Burton film, it seems like the story is the least important component. Instead of working on character and emotional resonance, Burton is too busy fretting over twisted trees and crooked tombstones.
Part of being a great filmmaker is having the ability to grow and mature as an artist – but Burton seems stuck in 1986. His entire filmography looks like a music video retrospective of The Cure, filled with ghostly white faces and unruly Flock of Seagulls hair. Burton should hang it up and become the world’s foremost authority on gothic set dressing… or CEO of Hot Topic, either way he’ll be draping skinny, pale-faced outcasts in black-and-white 1800s attire.
Dark Shadows had promise, if only it would have been played straight. The great thing about the original 1960′s soap opera is that it was deadly serious, which made it hysterical. Burton’s adaptation is basically Encino Man meets Addams Family Values – or Austin Powers meets Dracula: Dead and Loving It, if you prefer.
It’s a shame, because I really wanted to like this film. The first act is rather enjoyable as a straight-forward gothic vampire story, but as soon as Barnabas is introduced to the ’70s, it’s nothing but “Bang A Gong (Get It On)” and awkward supernatural sex scenes set to Barry White.
Do yourself a favor and just wait five years for the eventual Dark Shadows reboot instead…
My family and I will probably see it. I think doing a campy send-up of it was the right approach. We loved the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Ed Wood and Edward Scissorhands so I think we will probably like this one. And we will be seeing Frankenweenie as my pup is one of that breed. Burton doesn't bother me in the least.Originally Posted by jerseydevil
i'm not even going to bother giving this one a shot. The trailer, and all of the commericals and radio spots really do make this movie look like a 2 hour version of that stupid dancing scene at the end of Alice
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