Not Burton's best, but an attractive effort...

Rating: 8/10 (17 May 2012)

Well perhaps Tim Burton has run out of ideas. Finally.
Dark Shadows is the latest of a long line of Gothic and occasionally burlesque fantasies fried and seasoned by Burton and electrified into quasi-solid completion by Johnny Depp. I have always been fond of that two-headed monster, from Edward Scissorhands to Alice in Wonderland, though Burton-and-Depp have accumulated quite a bit of heat for the latter. Of course Burton deviates from original material in whatever he does. Washington Irving would never have known Sleepy Hollow for his, Roald Dahl might have blinked twice at Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Lewis Carroll very possibly wouldn't callooh or callay at his revised (or should I say revisioned?) Wonderland. In this, Dark Shadows is no exception. There is a great divide between the 70's soap we know and love and Burton's over-the-top spectacle. However, what the film lacks in constancy and plot it more than makes up for in setting and character.
The film opens in eighteenth-century England. We watch the Collins family rise to wealth through a series of flashbacks before settling at last in aptly named Collinsport, New England. All would be fairytale perfect, were it not for young Barnabas's idle tryst with Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green), an ambitious servant girl whose extracurricular activities consist mainly of reading spell tomes and summoning devils. Spurned by Barnabas, she wreaks havoc on the Collins family, concluding her revenge by cursing her former lover to all the soulless disadvantages of vampirism as well as the confines of a standard six-by-two.
There is no denying Burton is a master of set design. The first twenty minutes of Dark Shadows are sheer brilliance. A few moments that linger particularly in my memory are those featuring Barnabas before he becomes a vampire, mad with grief in the midst of Angelique's torments. The Collins estate is a beautiful work of Gothic architecture, "the perfect marriage of European elegance and American enterprise," and Burton is at his best when the mansion itself is a character in mood and meaning. A claustrophobic library, closed and stifled to the light of day, where Barnabas fevers over occultism, contrasts desperation and entrapment with the melancholy sweetness we discover through Barnabas's one remaining happiness, Josette DuPres (Bella Heathcote), on an open, grey little balcony, unadorned but simple and free. Poignant and effective, these scenes of shrouded mist and creeping, cloying evil set the mood for a film that might have been taut with suspense if not for two centuries lost and Barnabas' jarring introduction to the novelties of modern living.
Conflict in the film consists mainly of Barnabas's efforts to reestablish the Collins family business, all but flattened by Angel Bay Fishery. Yes, Angelique has indeed survived all these years to lord financial success and social influence over the ruined Collinses. While this storyline is somewhat lacking, the characters themselves provide an entertainment not dissimilar to the Addams Family's appeal. Of all the original characters, Elizabeth Stoddard (Michelle Pfeiffer) maintains her mien of no-nonsense, but Roger Collins (Jonny Lee Miller) lacks the gravitas and charm of his original and is rather an ill-tempered skirt-chaser. The character of Carolyn suffers the most, the bubble-headed but innocent bombshell now transformed into a teenage rebel obsessed with, let's just say, not the Carpenters. As for Barnabas: well. Jonathan Frid defined the character with his shy yet aloof manner, a romantic ghost out of time and place. Depp handles the role with a similar romanticism and gentility, but there is a hint of villainy to his character that was not so defined in Frid, excepting House of Dark Shadows (1970). This Barnabas, while obsessed with thwarting the advances both physical and monetary of his nemesis Angelique, is also an active vampire, killing with a strange mix of remorse and glee. He executes mayhem with an apologetic relish that would mortify many a delicate modern vampire. Depp's excessive, perhaps rich, makeup and dress—exaggerated as in so many previous films— has never really upset me. I am rather fond of playacting, and the more extreme he waxes the easier it is for me to find a costuming parallel at Forever 21.
An outstanding performance worth mentioning is that of Bella Heathcote, who plays both Josette and Victoria Winters. Her performance is both sympathetic and emotionally charged, a blend of innocence and ethereal goodness that contrasts perfectly with Eva Green's portrayal of the devilish Angelique. Her intensity draws the viewer in and compels you to mostly forgive the occasionally awkward moments that take place at the Collins dinner table.
What you must not forget while watching Dark Shadows is that you are watching a Tim Burton film. Quirky, off-beat humor, eccentric characters, and moments of improbability are par for the course. There is too that theme of artistic misunderstanding caused by an unacceptable fascination for the otherworldly that pervades all of Burton's films. But if you are willing to suspend your disbelief and simply enjoy a bit of madness, mayhem, and Heaven for misfits, you will enjoy Dark Shadows despite its flaws, and perhaps more than it deserves for that careless bit of black adventure that carries through even the worst of Burton.