Dark Shadows?

On a whim, I checked Colonial Promenade 6 for a showing of Dark Shadows, and was quite delighted to see that my hunch was spot on. I immediately texted Stephanie and demanded she make good on our Dark Shadows rain check. "Demanded", pleaded... you know... I needed some distraction and to be away from reminders. It was her last night of freedom, so she was onboard. She was also late in typical Stephanie fashion. We made it inside about 5 minutes into the film.

I was completely taken by the movie from the onset. Michelle Pfeifer was amazing, and I was delighted to see Jackie Earle Haley continuing in the basking of his revival. I thought briefly how ironic the casting was, in a movie about returning from the grave, that he should be cast. "Let Me In"'s Chloe Grace Moretz played the role of the daughter, and her rebellious attitude counter-balanced by a free-spirited hippie culture was a bit off but somehow worked. Maybe it's something about the 70's I missed? But then, in walked whore-orange-headed Helena Bonham Carter sporting a lob...and geez - just breathtaking. Sans accent, but nonetheless a little dirty; a little trainwreck like; a whole lot of hot. Johnny Depp's character's nemesis is played by Eva Green (Kingdom Of Heaven, Golden Compass), whom I never found that stunning, but as a long-haired, blonde in this role, she is the epitome of sex appeal and utterly salacious. The movie moves along quite quickly, but there's undeveloped aspects that I wish had been better explored. Christopher Lee's role for instance... it required more depth and background. The back story of the Collins Family losing their gasp on the town and it's industry, though throughly discussed - Burton films have cut-aways and I think we deserved on. Help me buy into this fairytale, please!

As the Collins Family begin to rebuild the tatters of their reputation, the story unravels into predictability and for lack of better word, silliness. This is completely unlike a Tim Burton film, and I can't to begin to imagine what happened? The characters become 2-dimensional, and though effort is made to explore personal flaws and weaknessed, it's so superficial and carnal, that it really serves no support to the story, it does however mire it in a swamp of disinterest, disappointment, and if the director gave up - as an audience member, I give up to. Right up to the anti-climactic ending that pulls every card out of the hat of tricks (maybe it was supposed to be absurd and a jab at current movie trends)... but it was lifeless and tracing paper for what's already been done.

Okay to watch, even enjoyable to a mid-point, but if I buy this or copy this, it's too fill a Helena Bonham Carter as a redhead fix... not much else.