Let me go back a little bit. The some days ago the first photos from his new movie, Alice in Wonderland, were released and a few thoughts went through my head. The first was that the lead actress (Mia Wasikowska) is made up a bit like Helena Bonham Carter, with her hair a bit like a bird-nest(watch out Helena, he might trade up again like on the set of Planet of the Apes). Second, I was put off by the fact that Depp as the Mad Hatter looks like a steampunk Willy Wonka. Finally, I wondered when Tim Burton would learn not to direct other people’s material.
That is the lesson I wish he would learn because it is getting a bit pain for the people who have to watch him slowly stumble towards this inevitable conclusion, one movie at a time. I like Tim Burton, don’t get me wrong. However, I am not completely enamored with him and his style. He makes a good deal of mistakes. These range from casting to project choices. Some of his movies age incredibly well (Beetlejuice) and some not so much (Batman). One of the few consistent facts about his career is that when he directs his own material it tends to be much better than when he takes on someone else’s work.
Let's take a look:
| Original ideas | Any good? |
| Beetlejuice | Great |
| Edward Scissorhands | Great |
| Ed Wood | Great |
| Mars Attacks | Crap |
| Corpse Bride* | Good |
| Adaptations | Any good? |
| Pee-wee’s Big Adventure | Good |
| Batman | Good, but flawed |
| Batman Returns | Very flawed |
| Sleepy Hollow* | OK, great design |
| Planet of the Apes | Shit |
| Big Fish | Fair (averaging between the fact that I find it terrible and others find it sappy but watchable) |
| Charlie and the Chocolate Factory | Crap |
| Sweeney Todd | Good, though the strong points are the costumes and the actors’ performances (minus HBC’s singing), not the direction |
* Technically, these are based on existing stories but are so far removed from the original stories that they could be put into a 3rd category.
**No, he didn’t direct Nightmare Before Christmas
Even if you disagree with some of my mini-judgments there’s still an overwhelming pattern to this list. His best works is all his own and his worst tend to be adaptations. Why is this? Most likely because he has such a strong vision of his movies that it doesn’t matter what the content is; it must fit into his style. This works perfectly fine if the material is his to begin with. But when it’s a story that already exists he sometimes has to do a number on it in order to force it into the box that is his style.
And now we get his version of Alice in Wonderland. Granted, it’s neither Alice in Wonderland nor Through the Looking Glass but rather a bastard sequel set years after the second visit. However, they are still someone else’s characters and someone else’s world. This all makes me worried about the project. Will it look great? Absolutely, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be a good movie. And with his past performances I don’t know if I trust him anymore. I may or may not see this one in theatres but if I do go it will be with reservation. And if it doesn’t completely blow me out of the water then Burton will become relegated to “Netflix Only” status, along with Michael Bay and other directors I wouldn’t mind seeing but would mind paying for, because I have absolutely no interest in his next project.
What is it? A full length remake of a perfectly serviceable half-hour short he made decades ago: Frankenweenie.
No comments:
Post a Comment