This feeling lurks, but finally we're asked simply to love the old Edward not the young one, which McGregor, with his Claymation smile, makes so easy. For that matter, we're not really asked. Instead, the movie applies the same kind of emotional pressure on the audience that families put on you, not just to make peace with the most demanding personalities while holding your own, but to give in to them. Maybe this is why audiences are swallowing this half-baked sugar pie. Just don't let anyone tell you it's a sign Tim Burton's talent has matured.
A final note: in this interview with FilmForce Burton expresses how I feel about computer graphic images in movies:
Of course, actor Matthew McGrory was only a mere 7'6", not the towering behemoth seen in the film. Burton explained how they enhanced McGrory's height. "A lot was in camera. It was just angles and lenses. It was important to me to not overdo CG stuff because since you can do anything, it just felt like it needed to remain on a more sort of handmade human funky level just because of the nature of the stories and what the movie is."
You can find this review and a lot besides at The Kitchen Cabinet.
Alan Dale is author of Comedy Is a Man in Trouble: Slapstick in American Movies.
Article comments
1 - Eric Olsen
Excellent penetration into the goop within as always - thanks Alan!
2 - Ken J
Great, another "ain't I a smarty-pants" style review. You know the kind, where the reviewer fawns over himself.
3 - karinbadt
very much enjoyed this review. Am a professor in Paris, and was about to use this film in a class, because so many people have recommended it, but found it absolutely vapid. It doesn't have the emotional payoff of Edward Scissorhands, and this reviewer carefully shows why the story itself doesn't work, with no real characters creating tension and depth. The softness of the story, the sappyness of the character construction, is not made up for by the cleverness of the imaginative clips.
4 - Alan Dale
Thanks for the comment, these many years later. They're always appreciated.