Misses The Mark

Rating: 6/10 (22 March 2018)

Continuing my plan to watch every Johnny Depp movie in order, I come to Dark Shadows.
Following on from Alice In Wonderland being a blockbuster hit for Burton and Depp, expectations were high for this one, and I had high hopes too. I had not loved a Depp movie since Sweeney Todd (5 years and 8 movies ago) but the trailer looked promising and when Depp teamed up with Burton, I always enjoyed it. However, whilst this starts off promising, this is a bit of a mess. I think Burton tried to start a franchise and set about trying to incorporate too many subplots into the first movie (A common flaw these days) and a potentially fun movie gets lost. It's not all bad, it does make good use of the 70's music for example. A lot of the humorous moments come from Depp's reactions to 1970s pop culture and I enjoyed the love scene set to Barry White.
If they had set out to make a straight comedy like 21 Jump Street, it may have worked. But it's uneven tone makes it impossible to enjoy. Apparently, Depp was a big fan of the original series, and he was really excited to be playing Barnabus. This is the eighth collaboration between Burton and Depp and Burton is the director behind some of his greatest movies. Sadly ever since he graced our cinemas as Captain Jack Sparrow the fine actor of the '90s and early '00s has been replaced by a man with a penchant for over-the-top antics. His Barnabas is a drag, but not because he resembles a drag queen. It's because he seems to belong in another movie. He is far too camp for this movie's darker moments.
Michelle Pfieffer is ok, Eva Green is quite good, Helena Bonham Carter is surprisingly bland as is Johnny Lee Miller, whilst Chloe Grace Moretz is fine too, Christopher Lee and Alice Cooper pop up in cameos. This is the last film Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter worked on before their relationship ended. This was also Producer Richard D. Zanuck's (Jaws) last film.
Dark Shadows grossed $79 million at the domestic box office to end 2012 as the 39th highest grossing movie of the year!!