Stop pretending that Tim Burton and Johnny Depp are a dream team
Posted on 05. Mar, 2010 by Jef in Film
I'm done with these two!
I’m so glad that Alice in Wonderland is finally coming out. So glad, because finally everyone will stop linking to new trailers and gushing over released photos and fawning over Johnny Depp’s brilliance and losing their minds because they saw Tim Burton speaketh at a comic convention or got to peek at his high-school doodles at the MoMA. It’s strange, isn’t it? Strange that in a world of cultural cynics and bald-faced haters Burton and Depp still garner so much goodwill and generate heaps of anticipation, despite the fact it has been two whole decades since these frequent collaborators did anything of lasting note.
Here’s their pre-Alice track record:
- Edward Scissorhands (1990)
- Ed Wood (1994)
- Sleepy Hollow (1999)
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
- Corpse Bride (2005)
- Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
The only great film here is Edward Scissorhands.
I’ll be generous and give you Ed Wood — despite the fact it’s kind of boring — because Depp is brilliant in it and Burton’s connection to the work of B-movie director/legend Wood elevates it to some unfathomable next-level of meta that can’t just be cooked up in a story meeting (even one with Charlie Kaufmann).
But the rest?
Sleepy Hollow is the prototype for everything wrong with Burton, where the admittedly awesome scenery and Gothic atmosphere overshadows any attempts at character development and swallows the plot whole. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, meanwhile, is everything wrong with Burton’s fans, where we salivate over a property that Burton allegedly was Born to Direct! — despite the fact the original was perfection in the first place. I get it, Burton does dream-scape weirdness very well, but the desire to have him re-make every off-kilter project in history is wrongheaded and also boring. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, despite the best of intentions, is a horrible movie.
Corpse Bride seemed promising because it brought back fond memories of The Nightmare Before Christmas (more on that later), but this time with JOHNNY DEPP. It was charmingly quirky but lazy, Burton re-hashing himself and again favouring technique over storytelling. A lot of people said they liked Sweeney Todd, but I don’t believe them. The movie sure does feel refreshing following the fail of Charlie, but it’s really just Burton superficially and hollowly upping the weirdness by having Depp do off-key musical numbers. Doesn’t anyone remember that Burton’s weirdness used to have weight to it?
But the films look great though, right? Yeah, well, so does that Jennifer Lopez flick The Cell, but you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone in that fan club.
I’d like to propose a theory here: Burton and Depp are ruining each other. They need to stop collaborating, STAT. Looking at their filmographies, I don’t think it’s a stretch to surmise that working with Burton has sent Depp into the deep-end of caricature acting, and Depp’s uncanny ability to disappear into his costume design and accomplish so much without the help of a solid script has fuelled Burton to forgo storytelling for simplistic image making.
When was the last time Depp gave a solid performance playing a real person? Donnie Brasco, an amazing movie, was over ten years ago. I had hopes for last year’s Public Enemies but the film was muddled. You might point out Chocolat, but then I’d have to kill you. Other than that Depp’s been coasting off maybe Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and certainly the Pirates of the Caribbean flicks, a very dismal high-concept franchise. Depp’s Jack Sparrow has earned him waves of accolades, but again, don’t you miss him playing three dimensional characters? Because he can do that, too. Really well. More than a decade’s worth of praise for him playing a funny pirate is like appreciating Tommy Lee Jones for that time he got his cackle on as Two-Face in Batman Forever.
Burton’s non-Depp projects aren’t much better. Batman Returns was in 1992. Since then it’s been dreck like Mars Attacks! and Planet of the Apes. The shining stone in his recent collection is definitely The Nightmare Before Christmas, but his animation follow-ups have been Corpse Bride (as director) and the meandering 9 (as producer). He actually only produced Nightmare, and nowadays I’m more willing to credit it’s greatness to director Henry Selick who previously did James and the Giant Peach and followed up with Coraline, both of which are marvellous and succeed where Burton has repeatedly been failing.
While we’re at it, let’s save Helena Bonham Carter too, who is in danger of succumbing to Depp’s Burton syndrome. No more planets of the big fish ape dead brides! Not for Bonham Carter, please, who can do so much more.
But, of course, I can’t stop the hordes. If you are in fact going to watch Alice in Wonderland this weekend, I hope you have fun. Tell me how it is! If you don’t like it though, can you promise me one thing? Please remember that you didn’t, so that the next time these two talented gents collaborate on a project we can keep our wits about us. And hopefully if we do that enough times they’ll go back to being amazing. Which I still believe they are, somewhere, deep in their black hearts.
Denise
Mar 5th, 2010
You make a good point.
Anupa
Mar 5th, 2010
Accolades on a dope post.
Also, I liked Sweeney Todd!!! That was an awesome cast!!! Snape + Wormtail 4eva.
Jef
Mar 6th, 2010
You can say you liked Sweeney Todd, but I won’t believe you!
Carly
Mar 9th, 2010
Under some coercive pressure, I’ll be watching it tomorrow. You’ve now further deflated an already sagging balloon of enthusiasm I’d been hoping to drag behind me into ye olde picturehouse. Thanks. (You’re spot-on, though.)
melanie
Apr 8th, 2010
well from my point of view johnny depp n tim burton are a great team!!! n tim burton is a great director so stop talkin trash and get a life :)
Jacob
Sep 19th, 2010
Actually, I find that their collaborations are incredibly well done. Also, I’ll have to disagree with you on the level of character development in Burton’s films.
Edward Scissorhands was a tad droll, I’ll admit, but I enjoyed it more and more thoroughly as the feature progressed.
Their make of Sleepy Hollow was very easily the best version I’ve seen of the story. Sure, it goes off into an entirely different realm (as do many of Burton’s films), but the story was so much stronger than the originals, and especially stronger than the retched teen horror flicks.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was spot on, in my opinion. The original didn’t quite capture the book’s feel quite like this one. Plus, Depp’s performance absolutely dwarfed that of Wilder. In fact, Gene Wilder actually praised Depp for his performance once he had watched the film, despite criticizing him a month prior!
Corpse Bride.. wasn’t bad. I’ll be honest, though, it’s not a movie I’d like to watch numerous times. The story itself just wasn’t too compelling. Plus, Johnny’s body language plays a huge role in his massive acting skills. He truly captures the role. Voice acting just didn’t convey his level of talent as well. He did a great job, but not necessarily notably so.
As for Sweeney Todd? I honestly will not accept any negative opinions on that film. Sweeney stands to be one of my favorites. Honestly, I don’t normally enjoy musicals. It takes perfect planning to appeal to a majority of people with a musical. Even if I do enjoy a musical, I rarely watch it more than once. I’ve watched this movie about ten times, and it has yet to grow old. The acting, the singing, the scenery, the props, the plot.. everything is absolutely phenomenal. Well, other than the voice of Todd’s daughter. That wasn’t quite so pleasant. Otherwise, though, I loved it.
Nextly.. to Alice in Wonderland. Now, I understand that people are very split on this one. They either loved it, or hated it. Personally, I loved it. The original story was more of a series of events, never truly catching the reader’s attention. Burton’s interpretation of the story gave it a vast, wonderful plot. Everyone fit their parts perfectly, and the story was truly engaging. The most amazing part, though, was the scenery. Wonderland was just as I imagined it whilst reading the story. Honestly, it was EXACTLY like I imagined it, which made it all the more engulfing. The only bit of the movie I didn’t so much enjoy was the attempt at three dimensional flattery during Alice’s fall down the pit. They tried too hard, and I found it somewhat unnecessary. It wasn’t really a problem, though.
As for you comments on Johnny’s praise as Jack Sparrow: The reason Johnny Depp receives so much praise is simply because he is what makes the movies so successful. The drama and action is great, of course, but it’s Depp’s interpretation of Jack Sparrow (which, by the way, was completely made up by Depp himself after reading the screenplay. In fact, many were very worried about him ruining the movie with it) and his precision with the part. See, Johnny Depp is what is referred to as a method actor. A method actor reads the screenplay, and then becomes the character that they must represent. They live the character, making themselves think like the role the play. This sort of acting makes for some of the best parts in all of the industry, but sadly can also result in a lot of psychological damage. Heath Ledger was a method actor, and as a result, he studied a great number of serial killers while preparing for his role as The Joker in The Dark Knight. This resulted in horrid, daily nightmares. He had to take a fairly large dosage of medication to even sleep during the night. As you likely know, his medication was too strong, and resulted in an overdose, ending Ledger’s life. One thing we can surely agree on, though, is that Heath Ledger proved to be the greatest Joker of all time. Anyhow, back to Depp. His method acting as Jack Sparrow is what makes Pirates of the Caribbean the successful masterpiece that it is.
Oh, and I thoroughly enjoyed Public Enemies. It could have used some better sound work, but otherwise it was fantastic. Johnny worked the role perfectly, and it truly told the story of John Dillinger in a way that I found incredibly entertaining.
Johnny Depp has remained my favorite actor for quite some time now. He’s a total wild card, and has nailed every one of his roles thus far. Tim Burton has his flaws, and I’ll admit his movies can be a bit too vague, but never enough to distract from the film.
Glenda Brazel
Oct 7th, 2010
Johnny Depp is sexy, hot, beautiful, a great man, a good father and the best actor ever…….I’ve seen all his movies and it’s great in all. i hope to see him someday. I’m really in love with him