One of Tim Burton's achievements

Rating: 9/10 (15 November 2009)

Tim Burton has always done strange, in a good way kind of movies. He has directed Edward Scissorhands, Sleepy Hollow, Sweeney Todd, and The Corpse Bride. What do they have in common? They have Johnny Depp as the main character. Johnny Depp brought great character to the Burton movies. "Ed Wood" is one of them. This movie is Burton's vision on the life of, what people said to be, the worst director of all time. Ed Wood made some of the strangest films of the 1950's. These include "Glen or Glenda", "Bride of the Monster", and the one movie he was known for, "Plan 9 from Outer Space". The cinematic shots in the film make one feel as if it is an old film. The movie is shown in black and white, so it really sets the mood in the time period. The casting in this film, aside from Johnny Depp, is superbly picked. Martin Landau as Bella Lugosi brings the character to life with his elderly enthusiasm. Half the time one forgets that he is not Bella Lugosi. Landau's performance as Bella Lugosi won him an academy award for best supporting actor. And he defiantly deserved it. The music in this movie is phenomenal. Some of the music was from some of the Ed Wood movies, and it replicates the quirkiness of an Ed Wood film. Jeffery Jones makes an appearance as Criswell, presenting the film in a host-like presence introducing the life of Edward D. Wood Jr. This movie raps around the beginning of how Ed Wood became a director. Even when one knows that he was the worst director of all time, one feels a sense of importance in Johnny Depp's character. He is eccentric but sympathetic. He felt his work was important, even though others did not. Whenever Ed Wood finished one of his movies, he felt that he was a true success. The relationship with Ed Wood and Bella Lugosi starts out with a meeting of two strangers, then their relationship grows as Ed Wood gives Lugosi a second chance at stardom. Ed Wood builds strong relationships with his fellow actors, a girlfriend respects his transvestitism, and his fetish for angora sweaters. The movie makes the characters human, that's why one feels great sympathy towards them. The editing in this film is fantastic. It brings all of Ed Wood's creations in one opening scene, and brings the origins of his films into a mostly true story. We now know who Edward D. Wood Jr. is because of Tim Burton. Ed Wood films may have been said to be the worst, but Tim Burton's "Ed Wood" turns everything around.