Edward Scissorhands

Tim Burton had a talent for going the extra mile in creating imagery that would be easily recognizable as his own and being almost overly detailed to a point where most of his outlandish creations would always have a specific art-style look to them but would have enough gothic aspects and unique elements so that it could always be defined as strictly Burton. While that has unfortunately been lost on him for a while now, he really made a name for himself in the 80s and 90s, mainly when he decided that a pale-faced man clothed in leather straps wasn’t enough for his movie and gave him Freddy Krueger hands just to stand out more, leading to the creation of his 1990 movie, Edward Scissorhands. In a suburb that looks like it’s been created by Doctor Seuss, lives an anomaly named Edward Scissorhands (played by Johnny Depp). He is a man created from scratch with scissors for hands by a recently deceased inventor (played by Vincent Price). As years pass, a homebound mother named Pegg (played by Diane Wiest) finds him in an abandoned factory above the town and decides to take him in. Having been isolated all his life and being a completely different creature from the other townsfolk, Edward struggles to fit into his new lifestyle as well as get the attention of Pegg’s daughter Kim (played by Winona Ryder), with whom he has fallen in love with. Despite initially being excited by Edward and the various things he can help them with, the paranoia of the townsfolk slowly increases as they keep misunderstanding Edward’s motives and it reaches a point, especially after jealously is spawned from Kim’s boyfriends, Jim (played by Anthony Michael Hall) that might too much to come back from, which could force Edward into solitude. Being classic Tim Burton when he was given more of a chance after his success with Batman, Edward Scissorhands is dripping in gothic atmosphere, haunting imagery, and a tragic main character that feels like a Universal monster while still being distinctly Burton’s creation. It takes inspiration from classic gothic stories and monster movies in creating a bittersweet, but still entertaining film that’s filled with charm, imagination and of course, a whole lot of weirdness.

With Burton working on the script along with Caroline Thompson, who would work on similar macabre stories like The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Addams Family and Corpse Bride later down the line, they manage to construct this story very effectively. It obviously takes inspiration from the original Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, with a creature made from nothing and the steps that are taken with him coming to grips with his existence as well as the worlds acceptance of him, but it also shows influence from several other stories like Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Phantom of the Opera, and King Kong, with its messages of society further destroying and distancing these individuals away due to their own prejudices and its exaggerated environments that feign reality, but also come with their twinge of gothic implementation as well. It has the atmosphere and gloom of a ghost story, but the creativity and insanity of a fairy tale, balancing between these two seemingly contradicting genres to create something wholly original. It captures the innocence and insecurities, but also the uncomfortable and borderline psychotic aspect of someone whose viewed as different being brought into a world that doesn’t understand them, and these mashing of perspectives makes it pretty dark and twisted, yet never moody in the wrong ways. The film takes the hysteria of the world from gothic stories, but sets it in current time, leading to different levels of isolation, both on a physical and emotional level. The film isn’t much of a narrative story, more a character analysis, showing step by step how the outside world not only affects him, but also how he affects others, for better or worse. It clearly draws from all these stories about isolated creepy figures with differences between their personas and their looks, but it adds its own unique flair to make it stand out for itself and truly create something unique. It’s a simple set up with no real twists, but it doesn’t feel like a film that really needs one and instead thrives on its surreal, yet grounded atmosphere to keep people engaged. However, the film has a fair number of cliches that are a tiny bit forced but it never hinders the overall message it’s trying to convey. At times, it can feel too much like a teenage romance film with a goth edge, but it remembers to focus on Edward and the inevitable crumble of his happy life.

Edward as a character is a great tragic one, capturing the frailty of his mind and the tortured psyche that he harbors because of his existence and his inability to be normal. He is both complex and simple at the same time. Though the complexities aren’t dived into as much as they could be, the moments that do are especially harsh and even touching. He’s a quiet introverted kind-hearted soul, but also extremely creative, helpful, and slightly brutal and naïve in nature (it’s a character that Burton saw in himself when he was growing up when no one seemed to understand him). He’s an outsider because of his foreign existence and his inability to fit into the town’s status quo, yet he never escalates trouble unless it comes to him first.  His look is threatening and creative, the mere image of his scissor hands mixed with his pitch white face and haunting black get-up is frightening, but also greatly imaginative and cool-looking. Johnny Depp makes this role as good as it is. The minimal dialogue Edward is given leaves most of the work of adding sympathy and character to the role up to Depp and he succeeds immensely. With the facial expressions, movements and mannerisms feeling pantomime in moments (mainly because Depp watched a lot of Charlie Chaplin to get into character), and pitch-perfect delivery, he truly sells both the heart and sympathy of the character. Diane Wiest proves to be an amazingly caring, likeable, and kind-hearted mother through her amazingly warm and comforting presence that she usually brings to any role. Winona Ryder has moments of both good and bad and at times her delivery can be a little off in moments, but the chemistry between her and Depp works well when it’s needed even though the actual romance is slightly rushed. The others are either stereotypes, pawns, or just jokes. Some of the noisy neighbors can sometimes get a laugh for how absurdly they are acting, but otherwise they aren’t anything that great. Anthony Michael hall as the jerky boyfriend is just the jerky boyfriend, being very forgettable and makes the film even more of a teenage romance film.

Being a Burton film, the visuals are very appealing and have a lot of complexity to them. The town itself is very colorful, but also very muted in lighting, making Edward stand out even more because of his harsher colors, and a lot of it is thanks to production designer, Bo Welch, who has worked on projects with memorable and otherworldly production design like Men in Black and Beetlejuice previously. It looks very much like a Dr Seuss environment with the bright otherworldly colors and over-the-top extremes which creates a non-realistic environment, but the gothic dark angle makes the film feel very much like Burton’s personal world. It’s nice to see a production design that creates a unique gothic environment without just sucking the life and color out of it, rather using the abundance or the removal of color in moments to create a movie that is still visually interesting while being both light and dark in visuals. The true staring attraction is the Frankenstein-looking abandoned factory that Edward inhabits, having the most Burton-like qualities, featuring grimmer colors and moody lighting. The whole factory breathes an air of classic spooky atmosphere with Gothic infrastructure on a much grander scale than the previous locations, which were more straightforward. It has the most effort put into it and proves to be a great location for a climax. Danny Elfman provides the music, giving off another hauntingly creepy and magically enchanting score that captures both the light and dark sides to the tale. It has a mysterious vibe to it and the prominent choir and mystical tone throughout gives off a wonder and charm as well as a soft mellow tone for the soundtrack.

Edward Scissorhands lends its way into a classic tragic fairy tale very well. It shows the turmoil of the character and makes him likeable and interesting to watch. It has great music, a nice visual style, a lot of great drama, and a nice dive into darker themes and concepts. The side characters are pointless in some regards, but it furthers Edward’s fears and makes him much more engaging as a character, which just makes things better. If Edward wasn’t connectable, the film would lose traction and have fewer redeeming elements, but his inclusion makes the film enjoyably bleak and uncomfortably morose in the best way possible. With a Burton edge giving the film a great deal of personality as well as a great tragic character, the film really knows how to cut deep.