A one-off "comedy" is not what "Dark Shadows" deserved. They should've treated the material seriously instead of cartoonishly. There was a wealth of rich material from the show and they might've had a great little franchise on their hands. It was just the same old, same old from Burton. That being said, the film plays much better on TV than it did at the cinema.
shareJust another case of greed clouding common sense. Everybody figured they'd make more money if this was targeted towards the younger demographic. Ignoring the already built in fanbase that was actually looking forward to the movie. Kids don't give a sh!t about Dark shadows, and making it really, really stupid didn't change that.
Well, Frank. Looks like another one of those long, hard ones --William Kerwin share
I don't think the treatment was the problem:
1. The ending seemed like sloppy action for the sake of action.
2. The part of Carolyn (Chloë Grace Moretz) was not well written, and took us out of the spooky mood of the movie. Contrast that to the Lydia part in Beetlejuice, which helped. Carolyn's role in the ending didn't seem to work either. Wasn't CGM's fault, however.
Nevertheless, I find the movie entertaining and artful.
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The story is king.
Agreed, once again Burton ruined something which had great potential. There are a few moments early on which touch on what could have been, particularly the scenes involving Victoria/Josette but once it settles into the predictable family-friendly Johnny Depp with a fake British accent trying to be a comedian routine it goes down hill fast. Dark Shadows was not a comedy or a kid's show, if he had stuck to the tone of his own Sleepy Hollow this would have been great.
And was there a need to have Depp in that terrible drag make up throughout the film? Jonathan Frid never looked like a clown as Barnabas and he still managed to scare us. There are so many things that are wrong with this production and yet Burton and Depp are apparently huge fans of the series. Did they watch the same show as the rest of us? This is not Dark Shadows.
Yeah I agree what was with the clown makeup? Could today's generation not get that depp was playing a vampire or something if he didn't have that makeup? Also what was the need to change all the characters? None of the characters were like the characters on the show. Not one. Also they combined 2 characters into one which I didn't get either.
shareYeah I agree what was with the clown makeup?
None of the characters were like the characters on the show
This film is less comedic than people say it is. The only humor comes from 1700s-era Barnabas adjusting to life in the 1970s era.
The film is pretty much an adaptation of a soap opera, so it brings with it its own Gothic atmosphere and characters, and the twists and drama that come from a soap. Admittedly there were some story elements that didn't get enough development due to the film being too short, but on the whole I thought it kept the reasonably good parts of the original show (vampire Barnabas and his family vs Angelique).
The only things I think that changed drastically was Barnabas being a more heroic character, but then they did manage to retain the whole lust/loathing relationship with Angelique and keep him as a protagonist so that works okay.
07/08/06... 786... the sentinel of Allah has arrived.