Film: 'Dark Shadows'; Cast: Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Eva Green; Director: Tim Burton, Rating: ***1/2
Tim
Burton is in a fun, irreverent mood as he teams up with Johnny Depp
once again to give a film that is at the same time a spoof, a satire,
pun and celebration of the movies and popular culture.
This piece of filmmaking called 'Dark Shadows' will leave you in splits.
After
lying locked in for 200 years in a metal box, Barnabas Collins (Johnny
Depp) a vampire, awakens in 1972 to find a very changed world. He heads
back to the the family Collinwood estate and gets the sagging fortunes
of the family together even as he has to contend with his arch enemy
Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green), who loves and hates him to death.
The results, even as he falls in love with the house nanny with 'ghostly' problems of her own, are hilarious.
There
isn't much darkness, or too many shadows in 'Dark Shadows'. Instead
what you have is a very sophisticated critique as well as tribute to
the 1970s. Thus, you have the writers and director taking digs at
everyone from The Carpenters and 'ugliest woman' Alice Cooper to the
flower generation's habit of collective doping.
In the
200-year-old vampire trapped in a time-wrap, Burton finds the perfect
candidate to comment on today. The result is extremely entertaining
with scenes and dialogues that will leave you in splits.
'Dark
Shadows' thus becomes an extremely intelligent spoof of many movies and
genres. The obvious is the vampire genre where contrary to the slick,
always in command vampire, we have one who is a relic and finds it hard
to adjust to the world around him leading to funny guffaws and
slip-of-tongues.
It very conveniently and with ease spoofs the
'Twilight' series with many dialogues, scene conceptualisation and a
werewolf reminding you of the series.
Depp and Burton had always
made a good pair. And their partnership shows in this as Burton takes a
70s TV soap opera to churn out a movie that is a spoof of many current
films as it is of a generation.
As with any Burton movie, the
production design, the costumes, makeup and effects are all first rate,
making it a visual, as much as a visceral delight. It successfully
blends in different sub-genres: vampire, comic-horror, gothic, family
soap, melodramatic, to give a very cheesy, yet satisfying film.
Burton
is one of those filmmakers who is unconcerned with any 'divine' purpose
for making film. He makes films for no other reason than to experiment
with grandiose sets, quirky plots and witty dialogues.
He is
irreverent, often in-your-face smacking laughter over your stiff lips
and always fun. 'Dark Shadows' has Burton exhibiting all these
elements. It's a must watch for anyone who enjoys fun, yet intelligent
comedies with no other intention but to entertain the vampire out of
you.