Left feeling sleepy and hollow

Rating: 5/10 (18 December 2012)

So, Dark Shadows. I was waiting for this film for a long time as I am a big Tim Burton fan, and a huge Johnny Depp fan. But this venture was confused and really missed the mark for me.
With Tim Burton you know what you are getting, usually. Yet Dark Shadows seemed to be suffering from an identity crisis. What am I? A Gothic romance? A spoof? Have you ever looked at a magazine stall and wondered why each genre of magazine, be it womens, mens, gardening or whatever look exactly the same? It's because people en masse need that. And with Dark Shadows it lost it's direction from the very outset. I spent the first hour wondering if I should laugh or not. I was confused. But I think not as much as the guys who actually funded this movie.
I want to reiterate, I love Burton, Depp and Bonham-Carter. It was great to see Michelle Pfeiffer again (and she was great as it happens). But I felt let down by this movie. Something didn't quite work for any of them, like they had been miscast, or the script was lacking, or perhaps the idea was just not right. The chemistry was a little off and the intended jokes missed by a mile. I sincerely hope that this is just the one that Burton 'experimented' with and now we can all go back to the comfort of his genius. It would be awful to think that he has allowed his ego to take over.
I don't do spoilers. I think people should watch a film for themselves rather than read reviews, but I also know that people do read reviews and I don't want anyone to think this is rubbish. It's not. It bounces along with the usual Burton quirkiness, but somehow it just didn't gel. I paint, and I know that sometimes despite experience and best efforts not every painting is good. Some just annoy for no tangible reason.
Overall, it's nothing different, nothing of note. Bit boring, and sadly even Depp fails to impress (first time ever). I kinda feel sorry for Tim. He won't be happy with this one, but at least he got paid.