REVIEW BY TOM WORFOLK
Before May 2012 very few people knew that Dark Shadows was a hit TV series in the late 60s in America. Then all of a sudden Johnny Depp and Tim Burton (not forgetting Helena Bonham Carter) are doing another collaboration, making a film paying homage to the 60s soap opera and all of a sudden everyone has knows about the roots of Dark Shadows - but who has yet to see an episode... hands up.... I haven't and I probably never will... my guess is though that in the not to distant future you will be seeing a TV remake of the series... you heard it here first.
Anyway, Tim Burton's films and Johnny Depps collaborations are usually worth a watch, so me and Natalie headed down to Chichester Cineworld to see if it could live up to expectations.
The story is quite a simple one, albeit with a sprinkling of supernatural. Barnabus Collins (Johnny Depp) has a lusty fling with one of his fathers house servants Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green) and then breaks her heart. Unfortunately for Barnabus, Angelique is a witch as well as a house servant and condemns him to eternal life as a Vampire then gets the local townsfolk to chain him up and bury him in a coffin... nice! 200 years pass and through a random series of events Barnabus is released and, once his thirst is quenched, he heads over to to old home to find his descendant Elizabeth Collins (Michelle Pfeiffer) living there. Family name in ruin Barnabus decides to reinstate the name of Collins....and there in lies the film.
(As I have said before I have a passionate hatred of spoilers so although this synopsis maybe very loose and missing a few details here and there its is, as far as I can tell, spoiler free!)
The film relies on its gags coming from Depp's character integrating himself into the 70s and whilst this is amazing it isn't enough to make this film a stand out comedy classic. One major issue I had with the film is that after you see Barnabus "feeding" on innocent bystanders you really don't know whether he is the protagonist that you want to root for. That then leaves the question as to whether there even is a protagonist in this film and once you realise that there isn't you sit back and enjoy the ride with no emotional attachment what-so-ever.
Helena Bonham Carter's character has no comedic presence in the film and I think the production company probably thought that putting a funny looking wig on her would be enough. Chloë Grace Moretz plays Elizabeth's daughter and plays it well in a kind of "I want to be alone" teenage angst kinda way but even her character isn't really explained or explored in the film and it really should be.
All in all I think this is like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or Alice in Wonderland - the film is ok and the journey is enjoyable enough but it is not up to the quality of Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood or Sweeney Todd.
Go and see it as you will enjoy it and let us know what you think...
Year: 2012
Classification: 12A
Length: 113 mins
More info at IMDb
Before May 2012 very few people knew that Dark Shadows was a hit TV series in the late 60s in America. Then all of a sudden Johnny Depp and Tim Burton (not forgetting Helena Bonham Carter) are doing another collaboration, making a film paying homage to the 60s soap opera and all of a sudden everyone has knows about the roots of Dark Shadows - but who has yet to see an episode... hands up.... I haven't and I probably never will... my guess is though that in the not to distant future you will be seeing a TV remake of the series... you heard it here first.Anyway, Tim Burton's films and Johnny Depps collaborations are usually worth a watch, so me and Natalie headed down to Chichester Cineworld to see if it could live up to expectations.
The story is quite a simple one, albeit with a sprinkling of supernatural. Barnabus Collins (Johnny Depp) has a lusty fling with one of his fathers house servants Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green) and then breaks her heart. Unfortunately for Barnabus, Angelique is a witch as well as a house servant and condemns him to eternal life as a Vampire then gets the local townsfolk to chain him up and bury him in a coffin... nice! 200 years pass and through a random series of events Barnabus is released and, once his thirst is quenched, he heads over to to old home to find his descendant Elizabeth Collins (Michelle Pfeiffer) living there. Family name in ruin Barnabus decides to reinstate the name of Collins....and there in lies the film.
(As I have said before I have a passionate hatred of spoilers so although this synopsis maybe very loose and missing a few details here and there its is, as far as I can tell, spoiler free!)
The film relies on its gags coming from Depp's character integrating himself into the 70s and whilst this is amazing it isn't enough to make this film a stand out comedy classic. One major issue I had with the film is that after you see Barnabus "feeding" on innocent bystanders you really don't know whether he is the protagonist that you want to root for. That then leaves the question as to whether there even is a protagonist in this film and once you realise that there isn't you sit back and enjoy the ride with no emotional attachment what-so-ever.
Helena Bonham Carter's character has no comedic presence in the film and I think the production company probably thought that putting a funny looking wig on her would be enough. Chloë Grace Moretz plays Elizabeth's daughter and plays it well in a kind of "I want to be alone" teenage angst kinda way but even her character isn't really explained or explored in the film and it really should be.
All in all I think this is like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or Alice in Wonderland - the film is ok and the journey is enjoyable enough but it is not up to the quality of Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood or Sweeney Todd.
Go and see it as you will enjoy it and let us know what you think...
Year: 2012
Classification: 12A
Length: 113 mins
More info at IMDb
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