Review of Edward Scissorhands (1990) by Brett C — 21 Dec 2016

When I sat on my couch and the film's opening credits has started, I thought this film would be a thriller-drama but instead it is a drama based with a splash of comedy on it. This film has its good elements and bad elements, I'm going to start with the bad.

The second half of this film feels so underwhelming as a finale and conclusion, I understand that the film's third act is meant to explore a little more on Edward's place in the world that he is placed in but it is done with such haste that the audience could just end up not caring or at least forgetting to care. The ending of this film is just so underwhelming and predictable that I stared at the screen for three minutes blankly and passively watching the credits go by in frustration. Burton has created quite a world with such imagery that he could not put that creativity on producing a strong and emotional climax. Another thing that I didn't care much for this film was the relationship between Kim (Winona Ryder) and Edward (Johnny Depp). To me, the dialogue and acting Ryder brings when it is just Edward and Kim was poor. She didn't bring a sense of care towards Edward and at the final scene, she didn't bring that urgency that the situation needed. Also,The death of Anthony Michael Hall's character was too predictable.

Now I'm going to discuss the things that worked in this film. Tim Burton did an amazing job of creating a colorful neighborhood, full of color and life. What Burton has done here with the imagery is to show you a neighborhood with colors that give off a feeling of warmth and welcome and at the same time giving you a glimpse of the characters and personalities living in these houses. The people in these houses are mean and very self-involved. Throughout the film, I started to hate the citizens that occupied the neighborhood, which in my opinion is great because that is the reaction Burton wants from the audience, you are not meant to side with these people even if they are just doing what is right for their community. I think Burton did a wonderful job with the way Edward looks and interacts with the community, throughout the film Burton shows the damage that the 'scissorhands' has brought to the community and also the beauty it creates, shown through the trimming and carving of magnificent shapes from hedges and ice sculptures. Burton really explored the themes of belonging and morality. Throughout the film Edward feels like a fish out of water and is shown through the minimal dialogue that Depp brings and the artistic vision that Burton creates around Edward Scissorhands. Although I didn't really feel the connection between Kim and Edward, I did feel it strongly with Kim's mother, Peg (Dianne Wiest). She was there for Edward since the beginning and not once she has doubted or felt any sort of negativity towards him. Edward's care for her is shown through the occasional smiles he gives towards her and the way he treats her delicately, shown in Peg's first haircut. The whole acting crew did well in playing their roles, Ryder was not too bad in the first half of the film when he had no love-like feelings for Edward and Anthony Michael Hall played excellent as the antagonist that personally is against Edward's existence, it's just a pity that he had to die in such a predictable and boring way.

All in all, this film has more positives than negatives but the difference between the two is very slim. This is a film I can see myself go back to on a rainy day when you just want to watch something while being cosy in your bed or this is something people can choose to study for a film report of some kind as the themes are not too complicated to analyse.