Rated PG-13 for comic horror violence, sexual content, some drug use, language and smoking.
Starring Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer and Helena Bonham Carter
Directed by Tim Burton (Alice in Wonderland, Sweeney Todd, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory and Sleepy Hollow)
Another Tim Burton, Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter weird movie that fans will certainly love and “normal” people like me will shrug and shake their heads.
In the year 1750, Joshua and Naomi Collins, with young son Barnabas, set sail from England to start a new life in America, where they built a fishing empire in a coastal town in Maine that comes to carry their name: Collinsport. Two decades pass and Barnabas (Johnny Depp) has the world at his feet. The master of Collinwood Manor, Barnabas is rich, powerful and an inveterate playboy…until he makes the grave mistake of falling in love with a beauty named Josette DuPres (Bella Heathcote) and breaking the heart of Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green). A witch in every sense of the word, Angelique dooms him to a fate worse than death—turning him into a vampire, and then burying him…alive. Nearly two centuries later, Barnabas is inadvertently freed from his tomb and emerges into the very changed world of 1972, a stranger in an even stranger time. Returning to Collinwood Manor, he finds that his once-grand estate has fallen into ruin, and the dysfunctional remnants of the Collins family have fared little better, each harboring their own dark secrets.
Originally Dark Shadows was a TV show in the 60’s. It was campy, silly and people laughed at it, but not many people were laughing at (or with) the big summer movie.
Burton’s film keeps the story line, while adding a Rip van Winkle element the TV show overlooked. Some of the gags about Barnabas’ shock at how the world has changed in two centuries were funny… in the trailer – so I didn’t really laugh when I saw them for the 100th time in the movie. And truthfully I didn’t really enjoy the other scenes either.
You would think if anyone could revitalize the campy vampire genre it would be Johnny Depp and Tim Burton. But, Dark Shadows isn’t clever or funny or worth your time.
The rest of the talent cast — Michelle Pfeiffer, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jackie Earle Haley, Helena Bonham Carter — don’t really play characters that have any life – pun intended.
How bad is Dark Shadows? It actually made me look forward to the next Twilight movie. That’s bad.
SHOULD KIDS SEE IT?
There is a lot of implied sex and conversations about sex, but no sex or nudity is shown. There are also a few scenes of violence/disturbing images. As far as profanity, there are 5 S-words and 15 more mild.
Conversation Starter
- Do you remember when Barnabas’ father tells him, “Family is the only real wealth”? What do you think he meant by that?
- Would you say we spend more time pursuing wealth or more time pursuing strong families?
- Hebrews 13:5 says, “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what
you have because God said, ‘ Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ “Paul instructs Timothy to “pursue righteousness, godliness, . . . and love . . . “ instead of money, for he states that “we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it” (I Timothy 6:11, 7)
When all is said and done, what will you be known for, what will be your legacy?
Jonathan McKee
Jonathan McKee is the author of over twenty books including the brand new The Guy's Guide to FOUR BATTLES Every Young Man Must Face; The Teen’s Guide to Social Media & Mobile Devices; If I Had a Parenting Do Over; and the Amazon Best Seller - The Guy's Guide to God, Girls and the Phone in Your Pocket. He speaks to parents and leaders worldwide, all while providing free resources for youth workers on TheSource4YM.com. Jonathan, his wife Lori, and their three kids live in California.