Tim Burton is one of the most atypical directors of all time. From his appearance and wardrobe to the varying films he has spawned, he has his own individualized style. He’s a maestro of ghoulish characters and visual splendor, drumming up spooky scenarios with a wicked smile on his face. Let’s get screwy and find out which of his movies I embosom the closest. I wonder how many will have Johnny Depp in them????
BATMAN (1989)
The superhero movie that started it all. A splashy Joker goes toe-to-toe with the Caped Crusader in a Gotham only the wizardly mind of Tim Burton could construct. Jack Nicholson’s commanding screen presence practically overshadows Michael Keaton, but I suppose any man with slime hair and a smile like that will. Still, Keaton is a quiet, stoic Batman and my personal favorite. Through the chaos, he’s disturbingly calm, and that could be worrisome on many levels for the villains who encounter him. Burton gives the audience what they expect, while serving you something he’s cooked all on his own, homemade with poetic visualization and internal murkiness.
EDWARD SCISSORHANDS
Tim Burton crafts a Gothic fantasy film of a “monster” with blades for hands, and somehow makes you fall in love with him. Johnny Depp plays the titled character who is a shy, neglected teen living with physical and emotional scars. He barely says a word, but he doesn’t have to. He’s yelling at the top of his lungs through his polarizing black-rimmed eyes with frightfulness and torment itching to pour out. Through the darkness, Burton seduces you with humor, romance, and a little bit of awkwardness. Okay, perhaps a lot of awkwardness. Depp is captivating in every scene, so it’s no wonder this is the first of many collaborations between him and the erratic filmmaker.
BEETLEJUICE
We all know this movie is nuts! But guess what? That’s the beauty of it. A demented diversion that’s undoubtedly unorthodox. Ingenuity, along with a strong dose of creepiness, crawls through Beetlejuice’s blend of jokes and the macabre. Michael Keaton is flamboyant in an unforgettable crackpot performance full of weird. Burton’s recalcitrant imagination is proof him and Beetlejuice make picturesque partners for this darkly surreal dance that will get your hips moving.
SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET
A revenge thriller with tunes doesn’t seem quite like a movie for Burton. Yet, in anyone else’s hands, Sweeney Todd wouldn’t cut as deep as it does. Back in his bromance with Depp, who is solely stupendous as the Demon Barber, Burton captures the true essence of the musical. Where there’s love, there is tragedy. And where there’s tragedy, there is bloodshed. As romantic as it is and as violent as it needs to be, Burton’s blood-soaked, melodically gorgeous story is a tragic one. The longing for death and retribution is disturbing, just as the filmmaker intended. What Burton is serving up is hauntingly delicious and you’re left wanting seconds.
BIG FISH
Ewan McGregor and Albert Finney are sensational in this whimsical story about a son divulging in to what is fact from fiction about his father. It’s an odd, winding road, paved in imagination and exuberance, leading to an exploration about one’s mortality. There’s never a shortage of colorful characters in a Burton film, but here, it’s their emotional certitude in their breathtakingly transcendent element that will stifle all viewers. For Burton, Big Fish is still enchanting, never losing his fairy tale spirit, but there’s a freshly creative maturity carrying his vision to new heights.
Brandon Vick is a member of The Music City Film Critics’ Association and the Southeastern Film Critics Association, the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and the star of The Vick’s Flicks Podcast. Follow him on Twitter @SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.
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