Dark Shadows

With the recent success of vampire movies and TV series, it was only a matter of time before the master of the Gothic film did his version.
Many of you know that I am a huge fan of Tim Burton. He is my all time favourite director. His quirky sense of humour and dark nature is what I love. So while I love everything that he does, I am willing to admit fault. There is now doubt that Tim Burton films are visually stunning and this film is no exception. The costumes and production design are gorgeous. I also loved the make-up on Barnabas Collins. Tim has obviously used the same vampire look from 'The Nightmare Before Christmas'. The other thing that Tim does well his comedy. This film is hilarious with some wonderfully witty lines and silly situations. While there are lots of the usual scenes with someone from the past getting used to modern life, they are still very funny. I especially liked his reaction to a McDonald's sign. I also found the satire of the source material to be of great delight. Having come from a soap opera, writer Seth Grahame-Smith has made fun of some of the conventions of  that style of writing with strange character changes and plot point. But it is not a perfect film. The plot is a bit all over the place and some sub plots not fully developed like they could have been. I think Seth has tried to include as many references to the original TV series as he could but not all of them are completely successful.
Tim has worked with Johnny Depp so often now that they make an excellent team. I've always enjoyed when Johnny plays outrageous characters like this and this one is no exception. Naturally he gets all the cleverest lines in the film and delivers them with relish. Tim also brings back another of his cohorts with Michelle Pfeiffer. While her role is not as bizarre as some of her co-stars she does bring a great deal of dignity and grace to her character. Tim's wife Helena Bonham Carter is great too. I really loved Chloe Grace Moretz in a more grown up role. It look like she is having a great deal of fun with her sexy teenager character. I think the best part of the film is Eva Green. Up until now she has played mostly serious roles but here she gets to really let loose with something more comedic. I was totally blown away at how good she was. I found her to be hilarious and give a brilliant performance.
Tim Burton fans will now doubt find this to be wonderful. Everyone else will not find it as wonderful but still have a lot of fun with it.