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SOUND OFF

Sound Off: Johnny Depp & Tim Burton's 'Dark Shadows' - Thoughts?

by Alex Billington
May 13, 2012

Now that you've seen it, what did you think? Barnabas Collins returns again! Arriving in theaters is Tim Burton's Dark Shadows, his fresh updated take on the cult gothic soap opera TV show from the 60's, bringing on Johnny Depp to play the two-hundred-year old vampire Barnabas Collins. Burton brings his whimsical, quirky, colorful style and crafts a 1970's set vampire romance of sorts, set in a small fishing town in Maine. But is it any good? How is Depp as Barnabas and how are the rest of the Collins characters? How is the story overall? Once you've seen it, leave a comment below with your thoughts on Dark Shadows.

My apologies on the delay of this Sound Off, I just got to see the movie yesterday. To fuel the fire on Dark Shadows, I didn't find it that good at all. It was rather boring, to be honest. Almost perhaps Tim Burton's Twilight? With the romance and weird vampire love story and so on. Obviously the highlight was Johnny Depp as Barnabas, he did a great job and I enjoyed watching him most of the time. It just felt like the story never went anywhere I cared, and I lost interest in Eva Green's character quickly. Jackie Earle Haley was another big stand out, as he almost always is, and I enjoyed the soundtrack and music throughout. That lava lamp moment was one of the best, and I did laugh a few times, but otherwise rather forgettable, I thought.

What did you think of Dark Shadows? Another Burton sensation, or boring summer drama? We will remove any comments that indicate you have not seen the movie, as this area is meant to discuss the film only once you have seen it and can talk about your thoughts. Please keep the comments civilized!

Filed under Discuss, Hype, Sound Off

From around the web:

HazedMind

It looked amazing but the way the story played out was just crap, Johnny Depp was awesome though
http://beholdthegeek.blogspot.com/ George S.

Agree with HazedMind. It's stylish and has that certain Burton charm, but the film's story itself is boring and all over the place.
robby

It was alright
Erickherrera193

Ths movie was very entertaining throughout. I went in with low expectations after reading some negative reviews. The movie was in no way as bad as they make seem. The actors did an excellent job, the movie is beautiful to look at, music by Elfman is fantastic, and the story is good enough.
http://twitter.com/serke serke

I will admit, Burton has lost something over the years. I enjoyed it, but like the reviewer a couple days ago said, it'd more fun than funny. (Probably because most of the funny bits were already in the trailer...) That being said I liked it a lot more than I liked Alice, Corpse Bride, or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Jack Putter To The Rescue!

I saw Dark Shadows and wasn't impressed. Good thing my friend payed my way in. Would hate to have paid for that. The movie should have been more like the opening scene, but ended up going nowhere and was uninteresting. Sorry, but it was abysmal. Left the theater and ended up going to another movie later. Went to a showing of The Avengers. Really long line and everyone was all smiles and excited. Many having already seen the film. Everyone chatting and having fun with everyone else. Comparatively speaking, there was also a much, much, MUCH shorter line for Dark Shadows. The people in THAT line had a look on their collective faces that almost reminded me of people being led into a gas chamber at Auschwitz. That was the level of enthusiasm for that film.
Al

They never spent anytime in the subplots. If you nurtured everything it would have been better. Also, there were several plot points that they never took the time to play up either end of. For example, the saving the family business plot point. There was barely any reason given to us to really understand the value of it. Then, all of a sudden, one montage later, and the books are closed on that part of the story. On to the next one? Huh? And thats how the whole movie pretty much played out. Another draft of the screenplay and it could have been a good film. Tragic.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Judy-Latty/100000449465849 Judy Latty

I guess you have to be a Depp-Lover to enjoy this movie! I am and I enjoyed his performance greatly! You never know whats going to happen with Johnny Depp in the lead...hes fabulous! The movie itself was good, but should have never been up against the Avengers......
ComicCon2010

WB does it again. They deliver us another Green Lantern. When will they learn?
Hattori Hanzo

Depp to Burton: 'Well, here's another nice mess you've gotten me into!'
- Max Renn
  
  Except he's laughing all the way to the bank.
Jackmooney9

As the film lacked jokes that were meant to be good. But, the film intrigued me with the quirkiness of Johnny Depp and Tim Burton. With some jokes that made burst out laughter. Dark Shadows deserves a B-.
Sean

I've noticed that this new Dark Shadows movie is rated PG-13, but i saw from one of the featurettes and trailers for Dark Shadows, that there is a scene where Johnny Depp's character bites a guys neck with blood coming out. Does the blood that comes out of his neck spew out slowly or fast? I'm asking that question because i've noticed that in movies, when someone gets their neck slit or bit on the neck, the blood comes out either real slowly or realy fast.
Crazy Legs

I enjoyed it! It was funny. I really liked the look of it. I've never seen the original but saw the revival with Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the David role and this one is way better than that one. I want to check out the original now.
Swiftest2007

Its was good! The doctor was HOTT!
Frightened Inmate #2

Story-wise, it was kinda lame. Depp was really good and Moretz was also pretty good. The movie itself should've been better.
Ralph Jimenez

You have to keep in mind that this is a re-telling of a soap opera. It wasn't meant to be a movie. Those who never saw the original series or the revival series don't/can't appreciate the story. It's confusing to them because there are so many holes. I agree that the movie didn't have that "umph" we were looking for, but it was entertaining overall. As a fan of Dark Shadows, I have to say that I enjoyed it.
- Manofmystery1
  
  But a movie should be able to stand on its own. Dark Shadows the series is old enough at this point that its (smallish) fanbase would never be able to make up the movie's 150 million dollar budget. Depp and Burton should have played to a wider audience, because as someone who had never seen the series, I felt like I was missing out on why I should care about any of the characters.
Vogue

the casts were good. Story is shit. anything disney touches=craps.
Luther

Was anyone else distracted by the fact that the connection between the young girl and the ghost version of herself was never explained, or the ghost's 'help me' requestes? A ghost finds some some girl that looks like her to take her place and get with her dude? A little stitched up, especially for a seasoned storyteller. It wasn't her reincarnation, because she was still a ghost, right? I mean, it's a nod to the original Dracula storyline, I guess, but less sensical.
Ashley Sargiotto

I wasn't expecting much going into this movie, with that said it was good, nothing great though. As it has been said before, all the funny moments were pretty much in the trailer. Depp's makeup was KILLING me, the dark lines on the cheeks, poorly blended and too much of it. Music was absolutely AMAZING! and of course Chloe Grace Moretz was perfection
Reilleym1

i wanna go see this with my 10 year old daughter but for a kids tim burton movie the trailer had an awful lot of sex and blood. i dont even want to take her now because after watching the trailer i find it is dull, boring and makes no scence! my daughter wont even clue into the plot line!
- Duchessfeathers
  
  WOW - you didn't "clue into" English class either, did you? Movie is fun - which is what it was meant to be.
KP

It was awful!!!!!!! Very, Very disappointed. I expected a lot more from Burton and Depp. Slow and the story was like a pinball game and not up to the standards that we should hold for such a great cast.
Jim

The movie was fun and beautiful to see. I went back to see it again today and it seemed to flow smooth, no surprises. I hated Depp's makeup and didn't like the climax (the script's at fault). They added two supernatural elements to the climax, which made it too unbelievable. I would have rather had a 1790s flashback there and then come back to the present, with Barnabas realizing where Vicki had gone and he runs after her.