All Burton, no substance

Rating: 6/10 (18 April 2010)

Edward Scissorhands is one of those I'll never see what all the fuss is about.
Frankly, you can't hide a tired plot with a bizarre style. Burton has an eye for imagery here but is not so successful in creating a satisfying story. The film manages to introduce a fairly interesting character, Edward (Johnny Depp), a young man invented by a crazy scientist who dies before he can give Ed real hands. The set up is wasted on a very by-the-numbers plot and opportunity was greatly missed in creating something truly profound. Instead, the film relies on a ridiculous but at the same time, blindingly obvious love story involving the teenage girl Kim (Winona Ryder) and her a-hole boyfriend who shuns him. Edward manages to find kind of a living for himself when he his brought into this strange suburban neighbourhood, giving the residents bushes, hair and dogs a trim with his scissor hands. However, one must wonder why he never accepts the number of offers of medical help, and its never explained. The ostracising continues until the very contrived ending in which someone dies, a complete and utter cop-out but amazingly, nobody seems to mind too much. Its also way out of tone with the rest of the film. Then Elfman's score oohs and ahhs to remind us that what we're watching is mysterious and haunting when in fact, it's just weird. It all amounts to general annoyance, despite it being visually stunning.
This is one I can really only recommend to Tim Burton fans, which is rather redundant considering that they've probably seen it already.