Enjoyable!

Rating: 8/10 (12 May 2012)

If you're a fan of Dark Shadows, you can't go into it with the expectation that it will be like the original/s because it's not. It's the same story line and the same characters, but it takes it all and throws some comedy into it. You just need to take it for what it is, a supernatural dramady... While I never watched the original Dark Shadows, I did watch the mini series they came out with in 1991 and it took me over completely. I was in love with the story, the characters, and the darkness that it brought once a week on Friday Nights! It was an impact on me to say the least. I watched it all over again thanks to NetFlix and was in love just as much as I was back in 5th grade when I saw it the first time! But comparing that to this movie is like Apples to... Pears.... They are very similar but not the same... But I didn't find that to necessarily be a bad thing. And really, I'm a fan of Tim Burton. I love the style he brings to movies and his touches were everywhere. Something I really enjoyed was how it was dark and dreary, and yet there were such bright and colorful scenes or objects thrown into it. I found that contrast to be wonderful! It just added that much more to the atmosphere.
I really liked Michelle Pfieffer in it. I thought that she played her character well. She kinda had that powerful beautiful b&^%h thing going on much like she did when she was Cat Woman. I enjoyed that very much. (And she looked awesome!) The rest of the cast was fun. The children were played well. Helena Bonham Carter was fun as always. (Loved the bright orange hair!) Eva Green who played Angelique did a fantastic job. She could go from beautiful to crazy rather quickly and the looks she could give with those big eyes of hers were nothing short of freaky! And of course Johnny Depp rocked his part as always. He was a fun Barnabas and I enjoyed his take on the character.
Over all I liked it. It was what it was and I was entertained! My only issue was at the very end where they just throw something in out of the blue... I will never understand how anyone can think that such a thing works in a movie... But other than that, it was fun, it was entertaining, it made me laugh, and it did manage to bring me back to Collinwood, a beautiful, powerful, place full of Ghost Stories and the supernatural. (My kinda place!)