A visual stunning, well directed, and well made film by no one other than the man himself Tim Burton

Rating: 8/10 (27 December 2003)

Big Fish was a movie that I was looking forward too all year. I am a huge fan of Tim Burton. His work is always brilliant and completely original. I own all of his movies and three of his movies; the Nightmare Before Christmas, Edward Scissorhands, and Sleepy Hollow are my all time favorite movies. So when Big Fish finally arrived in Voorhees, NJ yesterday I made it my top priority to rush out and see it at the earliest convenience. So today I headed all the way to Voorhees to see Big Fish.
Big Fish is the tenth feature film Tim Burton directed. It is without a doubt an original film with a lot of imagination. The film is about a man named Edward Bloom played by both Ewan McGregor & Albert Finney. Ewan McGregor played Edward Bloom when he was young and Albert Finney played Edward as an Adult. Edward Bloom was always a man who told stories about his life, which were all, mixed with Tall Tales. He never wanted to tell a boring story so he told the truth within the fiction. The movie tells the story of Edward Bloom and you the viewer have to decide which part of the story is real and which is imaginary. Big Fish is a very interesting experience and has a lot of elements I noticed from previous Tim Burton films.
The film's acting was of coarse top notch like all of Burton's previous films. The acting is never poor. Ewan McGregor and Albert Finney both do a great job as Edward Bloom by living out this extraordinary life they were given. The supporting cast including Steve Buscemi as Norther Winslow, Billy Crudup as Edward's Son William, Jessica Lange as the older wife of Edward Bloom, the beautiful Alison Lohman as the younger wife of Edward Bloom, and Helena Bonham Carter as Jenny the witch all did a great job although most of the people mentioned were not in the film for more than 15 to 25 minutes.

As Tim Burton, well his imagination soared throughout this film. The film was very creative and I enjoyed seeing all these unique characters. But I think this is also where the fault lies. There are to many characters. I couldn't keep up with them all, because were so many. It was an over abundance of characters. The camera angles in this film as always were superb and the creative sets were outstanding. I really liked how this Edward Bloom's mind was so filled of this imaginary world. Another disappointment I had with the film was this, it was very upbeat and not dark like all of Burton's previous films. I am used to the darker Burton and like him a bit more. I do understand why he did make a more upbeat film because he wanted to gain more audiences because the darker films are aimed towards a smaller-target audience.
The writer John August did a great job on this script especially since this man was the one who wrote the horrible Charlie's Angels 1 & 2 and Titan A.E. You see what a good script can do with the help of a great director. It can make a film that will be nominated for Golden Globe Awards and Academy Awards. Keep writing John August and leave those bad films behind you because you have a creative mind and you sure proved that with Big Fish.
So In Conclusion, I am a huge fan of Tim Burton. I worship the man. I own all his films and collect his merchandise. I can only wish one day I can make a film 1/10 as great as this man if I ever fulfill my dream as becoming a director. Now its time for the questions: Did I like Big Fish? Absolutely! Was I disappointed a bit with the film? Yes I thought many of his previous films including Edward Scissorhands and Nightmare Before Christmas were a lot better and displayed more of Tim Burton's unique mind. I will be seeing Big Fish again because I think it will be better with repeated viewings since at first I had such high hopes for it and now its out of my system. Although I don't think this film is Tim Burton's best film to date, it is still an excellent film, which should target many more people than the usual Burton followers like me. Keep up the great movies Mr. Burton you will one day be one of the biggest & best directors of all time. You are already the best director to me. My final rating for Big Fish is an 8.5/10.