dissident320

I recently watched Ed Wood which is a biopic Tim Burton did 20 years prior to this. It's almost astounding how different they are. In Big Eyes the characters are charmless, the story is bland and even the overall look of the movie has no discernible qualities.

Amy Adams and Christoph Waltz are fine but they certainly don't elevate any of this decidedly mediocre material. Everyone appears to be coasting through this movie. The director, the cinematographer and the supporting cast are doing no more than getting the job done.

I think it did a good job of portraying that style of art becoming popular and the overall cheapening of what she was creating. But it never wants to present her as a real artist. It more treats it like a parlour trick.

It's difficult to map the exact movie where Tim Burton became mediocre but this one is a great example of why I don't usually don't make a point to watch his films anymore. They don't feel like his movies anymore right down to the stories and the set design.

Re-watch Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood or even Sleepy Hollow before you consider bothering with this.

I'm not a lover of Shakespeare by any means but I do truly enjoy Kenneth Branagh's take on this play. It's fun, romantic and full of great performances (Even by Keanu Reeves!). This movie feels like it misses the point completely. Despite being one of his lighter plays it feels overly serious throughout. It's more dinner theatre than a genuine movie. I get that this was a passion project but then why make it like this? No one nails the dialogue and nobody seems like they're having any fun except for Nathan Fillion.

Lastly, I have no idea why it was black and white. If anything it just made it feel more dull and inconsequential. If you're going to do black and white give it some contrast and maybe shoot with actual film. It looked very digital with the saturation pulled out.

There's nothing new and exciting to take from this, so if you really enjoyed the 1993 version I highly doubt this one is for you. The characters are dull and unmemorable and I kept getting the men mixed up. Skip it.