Directors I Gave Up On: Tim Burton

That subject heading is a bit of a misnomer: saying that I "gave up" on Tim Burton implies that I was actually on board with him at some point, which unfortunately just is not the case. I gave Tim Burton many, many chances to win my affections and impress me with his "unique" view of the world, but time and time again, I find him to just be... well, a bit of a dullard.

Many people disagree with me, obviously. He's not just successful, he's his own brand. Burton's financial and cultural success seemed to peak some time ago, but his output seems on the rise. Good for fans, not so good for those us who have grown weary of him.

It's not that I think Burton is a hack... at least, not completely. He has a unique perspective, and it really seems that he puts a lot of time and care into his films, but basically I just feel like if you've seen one Tim Burton film, you've seen them all. It was fresh and interesting to have these goofy gothic comedies back in the eights (Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands), but once he started to get success and people started to fawn over him, it was all downhill from there.

His idiosyncrasies used to be unique, interesting; now they're old hat. I'm just sick of seeing an unrestrained Johnny Depp prance around without real character or motivation; sick of the obsessive pale-skinned make-up; sickof Danny Elfman's repetitive, "quirky" scores; sick of the German Expressionist design of every little thing (When is the last time you watched Batman Returns? Didn't realize the significance as a kid, but Christopher Walken actually plays a character named Max Schreck! Pathetic!)... I'm just done with the "Tim Burton"-ness of every Tim Burton movie.

You know Tim Burton's best movie, by far? Ed Wood. You know why? Because it's the least like his other movies. Burton finally showed a restraint and an attention to detail and character that is not only sorely missing from his other work, it's just plain not in his other work. With Ed Wood, Burton proved he could make a great film; but with future projects such as Dark Shadows, based on the mildly popular soap of the same name, and Frankenweenie, a full-length stop-motion remake of his live-action short, it seems that Tim Burton is going to stay and play in wonderland for the forseeable future.

A pity.