Friday, May 11, 2012
Dark Shadows (2012)
Film Reviews Films 2012 Tim Burton
Like most Tim Burton films, Dark Shadows is filled with such eccentricities that can only be enjoyed by a few. The target audiences are either Burton fans,
who will watch anything he comes out with or the fans of the actors. I mean
Chloe Moretz in a Tim Burton film, IM IN! Guilty as charged, I fall into both
of these categories. Even though the film is an adaptation of the 60’s
broadcast of Dark Shadows, most of the audiences were in their teens to early
twenties who probably have never heard of Dark Shadows before this film.
Embarrassingly, I must admit that I fell asleep. Possibly from the lack of
sleep the night before or because of the sheer prolonged and unsensical
happenings on screen. Which is the real reason is still unknown.
After being rejected
by Barnabas Collins (Johnny Depp), servant Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green) kills
his parents and the love of his life Josette DuPres (Bella Heathcote). If that
wasn’t enough she turns him into a vampire and buried alive for 200 years so
that his suffering would never end.
This is Johnny Depp and Tim Burton’s Eighth collaboration
together and it feels as if Depp is evolving and Burton is just treading in the
same chill pool of darkness for all these years. I mean, if it’s not broken
don’t fix it right? Every single character that Depp has played through
Burton’s vision is continuously without a doubt engraved in people’s mind for
all of pop culture eternity. Even in this weirder than his usual character as
Barnabas Collins, he speaks eloquently and as-a-matter-of-factly. Collins with
his caked face and vampire gear stands out like a sore thumb in the midst of
the bellbottom, long hair, and free loving hippie era of 1970’s. Yet again,
even though the film wasn’t completely satisfactory, Depp has created a
character that is worthy of remembrance.
Rather than focusing on the plot, this film was filled with
quirky and memorable characters. Every single character from Chloe Moretz’s teenage angsty Carolyn Stoddard to newcomer Bella Heathcote as Victoria Winters’ ice cold
eyes and melodic voice is a charm all in it’s own. Heathcote plays both Barnabas’s
long lost love, Josette and Governess of the youngest Collins boy who can see
ghosts, David Collins (Gulliver McGrath), Victoria Winters. The best part of Burton’s films is that he
discovers these diamonds in the rough types and most of them so happens to be
found in Australia. Like Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland), Heathcote is Australian
and won the Heath Ledger scholarship, an award set up by the actor’s family
after his death to give Australian actors a chance to make it in L.A. After
moving to L.A. and getting a few jobs, in 2010, her manager called and said "Tim
Burton saw your picture", and that was that! I don’t know if it was her icy,
gothic look that captivated Burton but it was her unexpectedly endearing voice that caught my attention.
I'm also enthralled that Jackie Earle Haley (Little Children, Watchmen) was part of the Collins clan as their drunken manor
caretaker. He is such an underrated actor! Everyone in Dark Shadows couldn’t
have been more better casted. No one actor overpowered another with their
“superior” acting skills or whatnot. They were individually memorable and quirky in their own way.
Moretz did not let me down either. Her
character has Carolyn Stoddard portrayed exactly what a teenager from the 1970’s
would be. Despite her only being fourteen at the time of the filming, her
character oozed with sexuality, angst, and rebellion. And seriously, don't get me started on Michelle Pfeiffer! I was so glad to see her in another film, it just felt so long since I last saw her in Stardust (2007). I can't believe she was in New Year's Eve (2011) either. That's pretty low Michelle, I know you can do better. She was able to show us a different side of her as sour-faced woman of the house, Elizabeth Collins Stoddard.
If the film is sliced into moment and segments, it truly shows the character's individual quality that make Dark Shadows so great. But put the whole picture together, the story lacks the coherent messages that films need. It gets lost halfway in the midst of Alice Cooper's performance at the Collins mansion (and the point was...?) The point was for funsies and nothing more. We get it, now get back to the story. I guess it was about 3/4 of the way through, my eyelids started to get heavy. And during the climax, something so bizarre happened, i wasn't sure if i was dreaming or not. As a Tim Burton fan, I used to go to watch his films to drown myself in his idiosyncrasies as a filmmaker. But now after Alice in Wonderland (2010), I go for mindless fun. Now, that's another thing I dont know if it's a good thing or not. B
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