Dark Shadows

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Should you go see it?

Yes, but don't expect it to be the best Burton ever.

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Spoiler free review.

It is hard for me to review this movie because I want to like Tim Burton really bad but every day I part further away from him.

From Burton I really like Big Fish and 9 (that last one not being directed by him). I also like Batman, Batman 2 and Bettlejuice (and now Dark Shadows). So how come I have a hard time liking him? Many reasons:

1) I suspect that if I watch Batman, Batman 2 or Bettlejuice today I won't like them that much. I watched those as a kid and they were scary at the time.
2) He made some movies I hate: Mars Attacks! (yes I know it's a parody but I still can't enjoy a second of it), Planet of the Apes, Corpse Bride (yes, it's not that bad but it's a waste of money).
3) Even some movies he's praised for I really don't like: Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Alice in Wonderland.
4) The best Burton movie I've seen, was not made by Burton! (long story).

So, I'm a tough target for Burton movies but I really don't want to be. I love the idea of mixing comedy and horror.

Back to Dark Shadows... Bob said it was kind of bad and I believed him so I was not going to go see it but recently a friend told me it was really good and she even told me it was going to win me back.

I then convinced my wife to go check it out in hopes of coming back to the Burton fan-base (again, I really want to).

I did like the movie but it didn't win me back. It has a lot of failures that Bob covers really well so go check out his review instead.

Don't get me wrong: it's a beautiful environment, great acting, funny lines (a few) and an appealing story but it just doesn't add up to a complete really good movie. A lot of things don't make sense and feel forced and it should be either funnier or darker.

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Spoilerish review.

For example, I just cannot see the main character... Show/Hide the rest of the spoilerish review

...having sex with the witch that did REALLY bad things to him. It's supposed to be a funny scene but it's not. The family member characters are never built and then you are supposed to get shocked when one of them converts to... let's just call it "a furry thing". The love everybody feels towards Barnabas just doesn't make sense. I really agree with Bob: this movie is just about having 3 great actors having unrestricted acting fun.