They were SO close this time

Rating: 8/10 (13 May 2012)

I've never seen the original series so I've nothing to compare this adaption to, meaning this review is based on what I witnessed in the cinema.
Whatever they were in the past, I liked the characters in this film. The family had potential to be interesting, and they WERE interesting in the first twenty minutes or so. Depp gave a great performance as a vampire this time around. The look was beautiful, the camera work lovely, the costumes flawless. The special effects were a little wonky, but it's Burton and I don't expect anything else. The music was fun (especially the end credits song). The acting was appropriately over-dramatic and I enjoyed it muchly. Then Eva Green showed up and everything fell apart.
For me, that's where they went wrong, and that's why I say they were so close. If Tim Burton and co. had taken a step back and realized that this film didn't NEED the witch character (Eva Green) to be more than a slight menace in the background it might have saved the picture. That, and removing how overly-sexualized it was. But no, perhaps half the movie was spent doting on the romantic/sexual relationship between Barnabas and the witch, and that isn't even the relationship we're supposed to be rooting for.
From the beginning this film said it was about the importance of family, and that gave me hope. I was excited to see how Barnabas was going to pull this quirky, cursed, and broken family back together AND get the girl, living happily forever after. Indeed, that's what it was at first, and the movie was interesting and fun and you cared about it. Then, like I said, Eva Green showed up, and she threw this movie in a blender. There was almost no time spent on the family, so in the end you didn't even care if all their issues were finally resolved. You didn't care that Barnabas got the girl (well, I did, but I'm a Depp-fanatic and I love when he gets ANY girl). You didn't care who lived or died or came back to life.
This movie spent time highlighting all the wrong things. The parts in it that were good were REALLY good, but sadly those were the parts involving the family, so there were far too few of them.
I desperately want Tim and Johnny to give their partnership a shot again, but this time? No dice. Better luck next time, boys. I'm rooting for ya.