Tim Burton's Dark Shadows - Part 2

[ddddeeee]

It's frustrating reading the reviews. Visuals are supposedly top notch and acting is good all around. Getting the impression this movie could have been really something with a different script.

 

[Pfeiffer-Pfan]

Isn't that always the thing though...? Burton thrives with a good screenwriter.

But I don't think John August is as great as people like to make out.

 

[Sawyer]

Nor do I think SGS is as bad as you all will inevitably make him out to be if this is as bad as the critics say.

And as for that, I think I'll wait and see for myself.

 

[Pfeiffer-Pfan]

Nor do I think SGS is as bad as you all will inevitably make him out to be if this is as bad as the critics say.

And as for that, I think I'll wait and see for myself.

Well to be fair... his track record hasn't really been all that great so far.

 

[Sawyer]

Based on what? One movie that the critics aren't in favor of?

 

[Call Me Darkman]

I don't think John August is as great as people like to make out.

He wrote Big Fish which was the last GREAT Tim Burton movie.

 

[Majik1387]

Yeah, I'll say Big Fish was his last great one, but he had good ones following it.

 

[Sawyer]

He also wrote Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which people like to treat like utter ****.

Even though it really wasn't that bad.

 

[Pfeiffer-Pfan]

Based on what? One movie that the critics aren't in favor of?

For me personally...

His novels, The Hard Times of RJ Berger and his other TV work have never quite hit the right spot.

He's a a fun quirky writer, but his focus is a bit all over the place. I'm hopeful that I'll love Dark Shadows... I'm just saying, he has definitely got a wobbly foundation in my opinion.

He wrote Big Fish which was the last GREAT Tim Burton movie.

Yes... I love Big Fish and he deserves alot of praise for it.

However Charlie and Corpse Bride needed a little extra kick.

 

[DarkSovereignty]

He also wrote Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which people like to treat like utter ****.

Even though it really wasn't that bad.

it was...it really was. As for dark shadows, eh, i'll check it out, but I'm VERY burned out on burton in general. at least I'll have his older stuff to enjoy.

 

[Pfeiffer-Pfan]

Yeah, I'll say Big Fish was his last great one, but he had good ones following it.

I enjoyed Corpse Bride... and thought Sweeney Todd was fantastic.

Burton has honestly had more hits than misses.

 

[Majik1387]

I entirely agree. I didn't think I would like Corpse Bride honestly, but it pleasantly surprised me. And as much as I love Sweeney Todd, I felt Burton did mess up with some of the castings; I'm all for actor first, singer second, but I'll just say it didn't work for at least 2 of the actors.

And I wish I was able to go the midnight screening of this tonight, but I'm a poor mofo.

 

[DACrowe]

He wrote Big Fish which was the last GREAT Tim Burton movie.

Sweeney Todd begs to differ. But yeah other than ST, Big Fish is the only great Burton movie in over ten years.

 

[darkseid26]

5/10

Meh. It starts off slow. I really liked the middle. Could have used a little more of the little kid, David. Third act is kind of a mess and some plot devices come out of nowhere, but maybe it could have helped if I was more familiar with the show.

The acting and visuals are good all around. Depp was not as annoying as he was in his last efforts with Burton.

 

[jacobed]

5/10

Meh. It starts off slow. I really liked the middle. Could have used a little more of the little kid, David. Third act is kind of a mess and some plot devices come out of nowhere, but maybe it could have helped if I was more familiar with the show.

The acting and visuals are good all around. Depp was not as annoying as he was in his last efforts with Burton.

Yep. I agree on all accounts. Except ill say acting wise I thought only Depp was good.

 

[Pfeiffer-Pfan]

Well... we are all going to see it tonight. I want to love it, but the reviews have put me off a little bit.

Who knows. I could be pleasantly suprised.

 

[mclay18]

That is a very strange looking group of people

Tell me about it. It's nice seeing Helena Bonham Carter wear bright clothes this time... and WTF is up with Eva Green's outfit? You'd have to try hard to make someone as beautiful as her look strange... but this time they did.

And Burton looks like a hot mess, as always.

 

[Dark Knight]

I saw the film and this review fall in line with how I felt about the film.

It was a good, dark, quirky, yet fun film with good acting and good cinematogrpahy and good visuals. Reminded me of Burtons Beetlejuice. 7/10 for me.

http://entertainment.msnbc.msn.com/...-shadows-offers-fun-makeover-of-a-tv-favorite

 

[Frodo]

Isn't that always the thing though...? Burton thrives with a good screenwriter.

But I don't think John August is as great as people like to make out.

Well Burton usually tends to emphasize stlye over substance. story really isn't he goal. He's more into the characters, emotions,and atmosphere. I think some if his best work I.e. Batman,Nightmare before Christmas, Sleepy Hollow, and Beetlejuice, work when he combines a good story with good characters.

 

[Gold Samurai]

The reviews seem to be all over the map.


Low midnight opening numbers

http://www.deadline.com/2012/05/dark-shadows-opens-with-550k-midnights/

 

[marvelrobbins]

This wasn't the kind of film people were going to rush to see at midnight.That Is for sequels and comic Book films.

 

[ddddeeee]

I really enjoyed it, lame random Caroline subplot and messy ending aside.

 

[DACrowe]

The reviews seem to be all over the map.


Low midnight opening numbers

http://www.deadline.com/2012/05/dark-shadows-opens-with-550k-midnights/

Last week proved you can't predict the whole weekend off midnight shows. This time one week ago, deadline and rival studios were matter of factly predicting that The Avengers was going to make between $150 and $170 million. Whoops.

I'll wait until tomorrow morning before I believe any of these figures.

 

[Drz]

Yeah the 3rd act has alot of weird messes that hidner the viewing experience.

 

[Crockett]

I can start off by saying I certainly like this more than Alice in Wonderland but there’s just something I think felt off when I was leaving the cinema, I think it's how the plot was structured, or perhaps how the other characters besides Depp's Barnabas and Green's Angelique feels so underdeveloped, I mean it felt like the family was set up to be the main point of the movie but it never reach that fruition so there's no real character development for them.

Now when it comes to the visuals, it’s an A+, from Delbonnel, Heinrichs and Atwood’s works, it’s a pure visual pleasure. I think all the actors did good with what they had, Eva Green’s performance is my favorite part of the movie, it’s very showy one, making the seductive and menacing character her own version of Angelique, she uses an old-fashioned American accent, which I love since it feels so assertive, it has the same assurance like the golden-age actresses like Bette Davis and Katharine Hepburn, it's a small touch but something I feel that elevated her performance.

I felt that the transition of the tonal shifts when it comes to the supernatural elements that Burton knows well and the culture clash of the 1970s, fuzzy hippie community feels ueven and shaky but however, it's never directly boring. There are things that could have been better (better plot structure, fix the messy 3rd act & one quite irritating plot device) but otherwise I did quite enjoyed myself.

3/5