There are plenty more films in the sea - I mean, cinema

Rating: 5/10 (1 June 2014)

And the moral of Big Fish is well, what is it actually? That you should lie to your kids as often as possible because that will eventually make them like you? That you should raise your kids to be one of those morons in primary school that have got some relative doing that for every damned story there is? That you'll one day transform into the bloke you're pretending to be in all of your lies if you just tell them often enough? The answer remains unclear in this peculiar Tim Burton film – or, as specialists on Tim Burton films would say, in this Tim Burton film.
The audience experiences the father and son story through the eyes of the son (a character about as nuanced as the defecating elephant that also stars in the film) who visits his moribund old man after not having talked to him for three years. Upon this foundation, Burton and screenwriter John August create myriads of fairy-tale flashbacks, seemingly taking Forrest Gump as an inspiration, but never explain why all of this should be told to begin with – if not for some lads in the visual effects department amusing themselves by designing all sorts of unreal creatures and objects. The story is almost entirely void of emotions while most of the life lessons spouted by the father consist of him not being your usual fellow and that one can achieve quite a bit if mythical things happen in your life.
I'm not expecting every children's film to exhibit a life lesson or have a specified purpose for existing, seeing as two hours purely dedicated on entertaining can produce a wonderful time for cinema-goers. However, Tim Burton strikes me as being more driven to entertain himself than the people watching his films – something that isn't inherently counterproductive for his work, but gives it a sense of being rich on the outside and empty on the inside all too often. Big Fish thoroughly matches that description, boasting elaborate designs and colours for various locations and creatures, captured in beautiful cinematography, yet quickly loses this appeal, as there isn't any more added to it. To be fair, the romance at the centre of it is lovely to watch and the story arc in the town of Spectre a highly amusing one. But even if all little branches that come sprawling from the film's premise were that enjoyable and assembled more coherently, I'd remain underwhelmed by its premise.
Introducing a fully new plot point on a five minute basis, Big Fish is quite the antithesis of a dull film and shows the occasional potential of becoming a remarkable film for young and old. However, it turns out to be for neither of them: too frightening and violent for one, too absurd for the other.