Dark Shadows // DVD Review
Gone is the boil-in-the-bag kookiness we’ve come to expect; this is a truly sumptuous and lavish affair.
A Hollywood wit once commented that Tim Burton couldn’t make a sandwich without putting Johnny Depp in it, and there was a time when the mere mention of a Burton/Depp joint would send me giddy with barely repressed anticipation. They gave us Edward Scissorhands and Ed Wood, masterpieces both, but then things started to slip, reaching a nadir with 2010’s instantly forgettable Alice in Wonderland. Needless to say, I wasn’t holding out much hope for this latest collaboration.
Now, I’m not going to try to convince you that this is a great film. However, I will tell you that I liked it. A lot, in fact. The source material – a short-lived seventies cod-gothic soap opera - is a more inspired choice than that for Burton’s recent output, and it he has grown it into a joyfully camp and hammy delight. Think Dallas if Dallas had been written by Edgar Allen Poe. Which it wasn’t. The performances are all suitably over-the-top, arch and great fun, especially Depp (well, duh…) and it’s funny to boot. However, it’s the visual mastery on show that really won me over.
Gone is the boil-in-the-bag kookiness we’ve come to expect; this is a truly sumptuous and lavish affair. The visual shaping brings to mind Burton’s 2003 triumph Big Fish, but there’s a nod or two to the post-production styling of Sin City or 300. Virtually every frame is a treat to behold.
OK, so the plot is a little meandering and the ending perhaps too absurd for its own good, but I had a gas watching this film. It’s no return-to-form for the neo-gothic maestros, but if you’d given up on the Burton/Depp partnership you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
