Uneven movie based on the classic TV show.

Rating: 6/10 (22 November 2012)

Dark Shadows is yet another Burton/Depp collaboration that is based on the classic 60s-70s TV Gothic soap opera. And you'd think that being based on a whole TV series it would give the writers (John August and Seth Grahame-Smith) plenty of story to utilize, yet, this nearly two hour film has what barely could be considered a plot. Heir to the noble and wealthy Collins family, Barnabas (Johnny Depp) makes the mistake of messing with the wrong servant girl, Angelique (Eva Green) and when scorned, the witch causes the death of his true love (Bella Heathcote) and turns Barnabas into a vampire and has him sealed in a coffin for all eternity. But, Barnabas is set free, accidentally 200 years later in 1972 and finds the Collins Estate in a shambles and his old nemesis Angelique is the cause. Barnabas vows to restore his family empire to it's former glory while battling his powerful former lover. Along the way we do get elements from the show weaved in but, the film can never decide on a tone to it's thin story. One minute it is a fish out of water comedy and the next it's a horror film and next it's a drama. Is it spoofing the original show a la the Brady Bunch Movie, or is it a serious retelling like the brief run revival in 1991? The filmmakers don't seem to know. So what did work? The cast. I loved the cast. Depp is very good at portraying Barnabas and handles the character's script driven changes of tone very well. Michelle Pfeiffer is good, although not given much to do, as the family matriarch, Elizabeth. She plays her role straight and it works. Helena Bonham Carter is Julia Hoffman, the drunk family psychiatrist who tries to cure Barnabas of his curse. She plays her part as more comic relief but, smartly, never goes over the top. And as for over the top, Eva Green has a field day as the villainous witch, Angelique and has a great time with it and it translates to the screen as we have a good time watching her chew the scenery and sex it up. She makes this movie a lot more worth watching. The rest of the cast including, Jackie Earle Haley, Jonny Lee Miller and Chloë Grace Moretz all have a good time with their roles and it's all these cast elements that bring Dark Shadows what fun it has. Burton's direction seems to be a bit laid back at times. As with his script, he doesn't seem to know what degree of seriousness in which to take his film and appears to change his mind depending on the scene. Although, it is when he has things played out with a sense of humor that Dark Shadows is it's liveliest as the more dramatic scenes are ho-hum and the climactic encounter between Barnabas and Angelique seems made up as it goes along. No better example as it is never clear whom is more powerful, Barnabas or the witch as it seems to change back and forth. And not to mention last minute reveals on characters that seem to serve the climactic struggle yet, could have been more fun to develop earlier in the narrative. All in all, Shadows didn't bore but, could have been so much more fun had a tone been decided on and the writers had taken better advantage of the 5 years of available story from the original show. Instead we get a mildly amusing passing of time saved mostly by a top notch cast who seem to know the director and scripters needed a little help.