Probably Burton`s Best Movie

Rating: 6/10 (4 May 2004)

This opens with a great hook , maybe not as great as some of the very best hooks seen in DOCTOR WHO and THE X-FILES but still very effective as to pulling the audience into the story . The screenwriters have also written a very well paced script that gives a background story featuring a German mercenary during the American revolutionary war . Yes it`s a good script well directed by Tim Burton who has resisted the temptation to cover the movie in his own bizarre signature , okay he has included a couple of unnecessary ( Probably solely made to give his girl friend at the time Lisa Marie a part ) dream sequences , but there`s not much else that had me think " Oh my god a Tim Burton film , I really must do something more interesting like watch paint dry" as can be the case with his movies . Yes it`s stylized but not to point where it becomes unbearable and I doubt if Burton will ever make a film this good again
I mentioned the script and direction but perhaps the best aspect of the movie is the cast . How many movies set in late 18th century North America have characters with North American accents ? That`s right - Far too many so it`s nice to know someone had the common sense to realise that American people of that period spoke with a sort of bastardised Anglo accent and therefore it`s logical that a bunch of British character actors were cast with the American actors adopting none American sounding accents . Johnny Depp so awful accent wise in FROM HELL has no problem with his voice here and the more I see of him the more I think that he`s not taken seriously by a large amount of critics is simply down to the fact he`s just too damned good looking . Depp will one day be remembered as one of the finest actors of his generation
So a good film . Maybe not a classic but it`s well written , well acted and well directed . Almost certainly the best film by Tim Burton