"No matter what, Edward will always be special."

Rating: 8/10 (20 July 2018)

It's tough now, to look back and imagine a time when Tim Burton was a gothic indie darling and Johnny Depp an enigmatic underexposed young actor, but indeed once they were - and Edward Scissorhands is probably the apex of that time in both their careers. Having not seen it for quite a while, a recent one night cinema showing gave me the opportunity to reappraise it as the jaded adult that I am now.
Peggy Boggs (Dianne Wiest) decides to visit the grim dilapidated mansion that towers over the American suburban estate where she resides, as part of her Avon cosmetics round. There she discovers Edward (Depp), a creation of the inventor who previously owned the mansion, who passed away before he could provide Edward with the human hands to replace the scissors that make up his current appendages. Though Edward is initially popular in the suburbs, misunderstanding and prejudice soon start to raise their heads, particularly around Peggy's teenage daughter (Winona Ryder).
The film really in unmistakably Tim Burton. The decision to use practical sets and models rather than CGI was a good choice, as the film still looks great. Maybe the aging prosthetics on Ryder in the opening and closing wrap around scenes doesn't look that impressive, given what CG can do there - but that's the exception rather than the rule. There's an unreal fantasy aspect to the town and its looming impossibly stylised mountain range that is beautiful and memorable. The costume and hair design is brilliant too. Danny Elfman's score too is another iconic collaboration with Burton, though he chooses a more orchestral and sweeping pieces here, over the "Plinky Plonky" themes he was often providing at the time.
The story is a little undercooked, a variation on both "Frankenstein" and "Beauty and the Beast" it could have done with another couple of moments to heighten the believability of the love story, and the way that the town turns on Edward, once he rejects the advances of Kathy Baker's bored housewife. The script though is good and often laugh out loud funny. Alan Arkin steals a lot of the film as Peg's husband, entirely nonplussed about the events going on around him. Vincent Price too, with his glorious cadence is great in his scenes.
Sad both in terms of the actual plot and when viewed against the triumvirate of misfires Burton would direct, the lost years of Winona Ryder's career and the eventual overexposure of Depp; "Edward Scissorhands" is imperfect but beautiful. Timeless but evocative of that period in Burton's career. Artificial yet genuine and you should definitely see it.