As a sometimes-fan of Tim Burton, I (like many) have spent
the better part of 10 years being continually underwhelmed by his generic
output. Between the years of 1985-1997 he was an exciting and talented director
with a flair for the strange and visual. Films like “Beetlejuice”, “Batman”, “Edward
Scissorhands” and “Ed Wood” showed a continual growth and a specific skill for
mixing dramatic B-movie camp with a genuine heartfelt love for the outsiders
who occupied his stories. Unfortunately, and not long after, he seemed to peek,
and has since been running in circles, lazily adapting preexisting properties
like “Charley and Chocolate Factory” and “Alice in Wonderland”.
Tim Burton
has always worked better when his films are more personal. When he has a
character to cypher his gothy/geeky obsession’s through, as he did with “Edward
Scissorhands” and “Ed Wood”, his movies ring with honesty and he exerts a sense
of exuberance for the source material. When he has no connection or interest in
the script, and is only brought on as a glorified art-director, it shows,
resulting in work that usually feels bloated, uninspired and boring.
Nothing
confirms this dynamic shift in his abilities more than the in the two movies he
released this year. In May, Burton helmed “Dark Shadows”, a comedic adaptation
of an old British vampire soap opera.
The story was awkwardly handled, the tone was perplexing, and the end
result was forgettable. This fall he has now brought us another offering; the
Disney produced “Frankenweenie”, a stop-motion animated, adaptation of his live-action
short film.
Like
the 1984 short, “Frankenweenie” tells the story of a suburban boy named Victor,
who loses his dog Sparky when he his hit by car. With the help of middle school
science and the power of a lightning storm, he digs up his puppy and brings him
back to life in his attic-turned-laboratory.
Where the story diverts from the 34 minute original, is through the
peripheral characters of Victor’s school friends. When the other kids in the
neighborhood catch wind of his discovery they decide to bring their dead
animals back to life as well, resulting in a morbid but oftentimes darkly funny
monster movie.
While returning back to his deepest roots,
Burton has finally made something where you can feel his excitement again.
Every frame is chockablock with visual expression and every scene has a funny
gag, enthusiastic performance or an impressive set-design. The voice talent also reaches far back in his
catalogue, as he brings back actors like Martin Landau as the Vincent Price’esq
science teacher, Catherine O’Hara as a dutiful but oblivious mother, and Wynona
Rider as a lonely teenage neighbor. They bring life to the starkly designed
stop-motion puppets and even as the casting choices are deliberate, wisely
their celebrity never overshadows their characters—in the same way Johnny Depp
might have done so in many of the more-recent Burton flicks.
With
this story the filmmaker now has something he can relate to again. He brings us
another wide-eyed, sympathetic story of the outcast, as well as a loving homage
to the black and white creature features of the 50’s and 60’s. At times these
two obsessions seem to butt heads, as the story shifts from an emotional and
intimate story about a boy and his zombie dog, into the manic monster hysteria
that dominates third act. With that
said, nothing is ever boring and nothing ever feels static or inauthentic, and unlike
the overproduced, CGI-laden films that precede it, the innocent joy in this
film is tangible. For that I want to personally congratulate Tim Burton for
another weirdo job well done. Welcome back.
Grade: B+
Originally published in the Idaho State Journal/Oct-2012
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