Amusing Movie but Ultimately Unimpressive

Rating: 6/10 (24 December 2012)

I'm finding more and more difficult to have a coherent opinion on the collaborative movies of Tim Burton and Johnny Depp. It's tough to complain about one of their movies because, really, after eight movies togetheryou know what you're getting and you get what you paid for. When I see a trailer for a new Burton/Depp movie, I'm never concerned with whether it's a great movie, what the premise is, who's starring, etc. You know what it's going to be before you ever settle in to watch it: Gothic, eccentric, visually stimulating, and a good chance for weak substance. I've come to a point where I don't bother going to Burton movies in the theater (though I made an exception for ALICE IN WONDERLAND because it was one of the few movies I was interested in seeing in 3D). Now I wait for home video and watch them when the Burton mood strikes. DARK SHADOWS falls easily into that categorya mediocre movie that is just interesting enough that I know I'll go back to it once a year or so. The movie is based on a cheap Gothic soap opera from the '60s that, I'll admit, I've never watched. I was aware of it, and I know it's got a decent cult following. That's the extent of it. It centers on the character of Barnabas Collins (Depp), a man born into a wealthy family of the 1700s who made a mistake of scorning a witch. In return for his refusing her love, she destroys his life and turns him into a vampire and buries him to suffer for eternity. He's unearthed in 1972 and returns to his family estate to find it in ruins. He makes it his mission to revive his family's fishing business and renew their good name, but his past has returned to haunt him.
I wasn't sure what I was walking in to with this movie. The original series was played straight but the trailers for the movie set it up as a comedy. DARK SHADOWS is somewhere in between. It tries to retain a serious note to the whole ordeal but stoops to easy laughs as Barnabas adjusts to life in the '70s. There were moments in the movie where I couldn't tell if it was trying to be funny. The movie has its share of laughs but it's nearly outweighed by a disappointingly boring plot. The bulk of the movie is about Barnabas and his jaded former lover/witch Angie Bouchard (Eva Green) and there's a good deal of time spent with Barnabas spurring his family into action to save their good name. Nothing too exciting but the movie is a decent distraction and your average Burton fan will probably be satisfied. There is nothing to brag about here with one exception: the soundtrack. Being that the movie is set in the '70s, we're treated to some great music: Donovan, Iggy Pop, Alice Cooper (who makes an appearance in the film), the Moody Blues, etc. The music is the best part of the whole movie.
DARK SHADOWS has a few of the usual Burton players with a few new additions. There is, of course, Depp as Barnabas Collins. Depp has done so many eccentric characters that I forget what "normal" Johnny Depp acts like. Barnabas merely fades into the ongoing assault of bizarre characters Depp continues to add to his resume. He's good, as you would expect with Depp, but there is nothing about this character that will stand out over his previous. Helena Bonham Carter is here as the family's live-in psychiatrist, Dr. Hoffman. She's about what you expect from her in another Burton film. Michelle Pfeiffer is pretty strong (and beautiful as ever) as Elizabeth Stoddard, the head of the remaining Collins family, and Jackie Earle Haley is a great little bit of comic relief as the bumbling handyman Willie Loomis. Chloë Grace Moretz is equal parts creepy and disturbingly adult as the moody teen-aged daughter, Carolyn. She goes a little overboard in the "moody/crazy" bit but she's great up until the final half hour when her secret is revealed and her dialogue gets lazy. And then there's Eva Green as Angie Bouchard. Green blew me away as Vesper Lynd in the fantastic CASINO ROYALE but, wow, is she cheesy here. I mean, really cheesy. If her character weren't so hot, she'd be outright aggravating with her hamming. It's all right though because it all balances out. As with a lot of recent Burton movies, DARK SHADOWS is wonderful visually and has a crazy fun premise with other-worldly characters but fails to rise above the rank of average.