I have no particular fondness for Johnny Depp. Sure, he has his own brand of bizarre physical humor, but what else does he have to offer, exactly? The ability to wear pancake makeup? The ability to star in countless Tim Burton films? Dark Shadows is another one of those Burton-Depp collaborations, and I must say it’s not their best. More than 200 years ago, noble Barnabas Collins spurned his lovelorn servant, Angelique (a delightfully kinky Eva Green). This was a very bad idea. After killing his true love (Bella Heathcote), Angelique (who, we learn, is a witch) turns him into a vampire and has the angry townspeople bury him in a coffin, where he remains until 1972. Harsh, man. From what I can gather from Netflix, the original “Dark Shadows” TV series on which this film is based was a soap opera that ran nearly every day for six years, reaching an impressive 1225 episodes. Unlike some of Burton’s adaptations (like Alice in Wonderland), this source material was already as dark as Burton’s own mind (which perhaps explains why he is such an avowed fan of the series). This makes Burton’s job not turning the story dark and twisted, but transforming it into a heartful comedy. It’s easy to pigeon-hole Burton as a man whose ghoulish desire for morbidity dominates his films. One tends to forget on the opposite end of cold, dead-pan films, such as Sweeney Todd, there is Big Fish, a film with enormous heart whose monsters are merely a catalyst to the plot rather than its focus. Regardless of subject matter, even a perverse film like Edward Scissorhands can be made heartbreaking through Burton’s careful work. Dark Shadows, while a creative, mischievous film, fails to find such depth. It may make some funny jokes – at one point Barnabas lets his head fall onto a keyboard, which instead of emitting a ghastly chord, breaks out into a funky ’70s jive – but in the end, this seems to be an inferior substitute for the kind of film Burton is capable of making. Michelle Pfeiffer proves her continued excellence as Elizabeth, the matriarch of the latter-day Collins clan that Barnabas has rejoined. Unfortunately, Burton only has eyes for Depp, and to a lesser extent Helena Bonham Carter (neither of whom are at their best in this film), and has therefore given Pfeiffer and the rest of the supporting cast almost nothing to work with. Most of the time, it is a funny and moderately enjoyable film, a good use of two hours if you have nothing better to do. But if you are a Tim Burton fan, brace yourself. Either you will be elated to see another iteration of Burton’s favorite themes, or you will be rightly disappointed that he has failed to live up to his potential. -Britta Hanson