A shadow of their former glories
By Christy Lemire |
May 18, 2012, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
TIM Burton and Johnny Depp are snuggled warmly in their comfort zone in the chilly horror-comedy "Dark Shadows," their eighth collaboration as director and star, respectively, and their weakest by far.
You don't need to know a thing about the late-1960s "Dark Shadows" TV series that provides the inspiration. Tonally, thematically, visually, you've seen this movie before, with its oddball characters, skies in varying shades of gray and a foreboding sense of gothic mystery. No one gets challenged here; no one gets pushed.
It's actually a wonder that Depp hasn't played a vampire before; still, his long undead Barnabas Collins, who's been buried alive for nearly two centuries and suddenly finds himself back in his insular Maine hometown in 1972, fits squarely within his well-honed on-screen persona. He thinks he's quite the charmer, but he's actually a bit awkward, and that contradiction provides the main source of humor. Or at least, it's supposed to.
The script from Seth Grahame-Smith ("Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter") allows its family full of weirdos to shine intermittently but they rarely interact; each functions in his or her own self-consciously quirky bubble. Too often, "Dark Shadows" is crammed with obvious, fish-out-of-water gags, as Barnabas tries to make sense of this strange new world. He struggles to understand modern romance as he courts the family's wide-eyed nanny and hopes to fit in by smoking pot with the local hippies. And how is this tiny Karen Carpenter person singing to him from inside the television set? Ho ho!
At the same time, "Dark Shadows" feels too languid, bogged down as it is with an obsessive eye for period costumes and interior details. And by the time Burton finally puts his patented flair for visual effects to its best use, in a climactic showdown between Barnabas and the witch who cursed him (Eva Green), it's too late.
As a child, Barnabas and his wealthy family sailed from England in 1750 and founded the fishing village of Collinsport in Maine. A maid named Angelique (Green) loved Barnabas, but he never returned her affections. However, she happened to be a witch and turned him into a vampire and stuck him in a coffin in the ground. Nearly 200 years later, builders unearth him.
When he stumbles back to his once-stately home, he finds it falling apart. The few family members - including matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (Michelle Pfeiffer), the only one who knows his true identity; her weasel of a brother, Roger (Jonny Lee Miller) - remained are random and reclusive.
The film takes a while to get going as it establishes all those characters. Once there, it seems to have nowhere to go - out of the shadows or into the light, it doesn't matter either way.
You don't need to know a thing about the late-1960s "Dark Shadows" TV series that provides the inspiration. Tonally, thematically, visually, you've seen this movie before, with its oddball characters, skies in varying shades of gray and a foreboding sense of gothic mystery. No one gets challenged here; no one gets pushed.
It's actually a wonder that Depp hasn't played a vampire before; still, his long undead Barnabas Collins, who's been buried alive for nearly two centuries and suddenly finds himself back in his insular Maine hometown in 1972, fits squarely within his well-honed on-screen persona. He thinks he's quite the charmer, but he's actually a bit awkward, and that contradiction provides the main source of humor. Or at least, it's supposed to.
The script from Seth Grahame-Smith ("Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter") allows its family full of weirdos to shine intermittently but they rarely interact; each functions in his or her own self-consciously quirky bubble. Too often, "Dark Shadows" is crammed with obvious, fish-out-of-water gags, as Barnabas tries to make sense of this strange new world. He struggles to understand modern romance as he courts the family's wide-eyed nanny and hopes to fit in by smoking pot with the local hippies. And how is this tiny Karen Carpenter person singing to him from inside the television set? Ho ho!
At the same time, "Dark Shadows" feels too languid, bogged down as it is with an obsessive eye for period costumes and interior details. And by the time Burton finally puts his patented flair for visual effects to its best use, in a climactic showdown between Barnabas and the witch who cursed him (Eva Green), it's too late.
As a child, Barnabas and his wealthy family sailed from England in 1750 and founded the fishing village of Collinsport in Maine. A maid named Angelique (Green) loved Barnabas, but he never returned her affections. However, she happened to be a witch and turned him into a vampire and stuck him in a coffin in the ground. Nearly 200 years later, builders unearth him.
When he stumbles back to his once-stately home, he finds it falling apart. The few family members - including matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (Michelle Pfeiffer), the only one who knows his true identity; her weasel of a brother, Roger (Jonny Lee Miller) - remained are random and reclusive.
The film takes a while to get going as it establishes all those characters. Once there, it seems to have nowhere to go - out of the shadows or into the light, it doesn't matter either way.
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