Rating of
2/4
Not Great, Not Bad, Just Kind of... There
jkownacki - wrote on 12/21/07
As with most Tim Burton films, the art direction was wonderful and the acting was decent (though it helps to have a very talented cast), but in the end, I found the film quite lacking in... emotion? Satisfaction? A point?
It's a simple tale of revenge, moodily told, and the songs intersperse with the dialogue in a generally unobtrusive manner -- thanks for adapting your own musical, Mr. Sondheim -- but it requires a lot of forgiveness on the part of the audience to be truly enjoyed. This is due mainly to the plot being contrived to the point of not actually needing to exist at all -- well, the entire middle, technically -- although it does all get wrapped up tidily in the end... as any morality play about the evil that men do in the name of love most obviously should.
Fans of Depp, Carter and Burton will be thrilled, but from a wider perspective, we'll just call this one window dressing on each of their careers and move on, hey?
