Now before we proceed with this review, I just want to say that you will never go wrong if you go and see a movie directed by Tim Burton together with his wife Helena Bonham Carter and their frequent collaborator Johnny Depp.
The film is an adaptation of the wildly popular TV show of the same title revolving around the Collins household. Think "Munsters" only more British and with a rather higher level of comedy.
Depp stars in the film as Barnabas Collins; one of the earliest Collins who travelled from England all the way to the new world for business. He's funny and a bit arrogant and typical of Johnny Depp movies, a ladykiller.
This new movie for the younger generation delivers a good and fun time in this post-Avengers world we now live in. One of the biggest things that struck me is how surreal and gothic the Collinsport is both during Barnabas Collins' time and even during the 1970s era.I am not a gothic fan per se but I do enjoy looking at all things Gothic once in awhile and this movie just gave me a hankering for some gothic art just about now. I guess we all have to thank Burton for that part.
I liked Depp in this movie. He wasn't as 'kitikiti' as Jack Sparrow nor was he creepy-as-hell as Edward Scissorhands. Instead Depp delivers a performance that mixes everything we loved about his other famous roles and turns a character as obscure as Barnabas and turns it into something he pretty much owned.
While Depp was the star I can certainly say that select cast members had their time to shine. Michelle Pfeifer, the one-time Catwoman in Burton's Batman Returns plays Elizabeth Collins, the matriarch of this generation's Collins and a distant relative of Barnabas. I don't know how Pfeifer does it but she can certainly play the "tough mama" role great.
Two other women who stood out in last night's screening were Eva Green who played the role of Angelique Bouchard and Chloe Grace Moretz (formerly Hit Girl) as Pfeifer's rebellious teenage daughter Carolyn.
Green plays a witch who curses Depp after not being able to "possess" Collins. She's responsible for the murder of a lot of people in the film and its a nice dichotomy seeing her in this role. Also the last few scenes in the movie (no spoilers don't worry) will make you reminesce the film "Death Becomes Her". Oh you'll definitely understand why I had to point that out.
The songs and music used in the film were also something of a highlight for me especially the use of Black Sabbath's Paranoid and Alice Cooper's "Ballad of Dwight Frye" which believe it or not totally fit that particular scene. Speaking of Alice Cooper, he's also done a cameo here which also gives Depp's Barnabas a good excuse to mutter a few well-placed jabs at the shock rocker. Also look out for a cameo of Christopher Lee. Yes Saruman, Count Dooku and Dracula is also here to deliver few lines.
Overall, its a smart and intriguing vampire movie that's got all the elements right. Depp ain't no sparkling vampire (Twilight) nor is he anything like those stupid vampires from the film "The Vampire's Assistant" with John C. Reilly. He's a monster through and through but at the same time he also channels this sad and desolate soul living through a curse that was given to him all in the name of love.
Watch it in IMAX if you get the chance as well because it's totally awesome . Plus c'mon you get to see the 10 minute prologue for the upcoming "The Dark Knight Rises".
Dark Shadows opens MAY 10 in Cinemas.
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