Edward Scissorhands

Sad beauty with a fairy-tale touch, breathtaking Depp, beautiful Winona, and brilliant Elfman music. Definitely Tim Burton's best film until Big Fish. Touching, magical, and unforgettable. (29/12/2006)

This modern fairy tale story set in the backdrop of an American small town in the late 1950s and early 1960s is a perfect example of Tim Burton's work. As he originally started as an animator, the inspiration from animated films is more than evident. His Edward is a living puppet in the style of Pinocchio, to which he adapted Johnny Depp and his character's performance - his facial expressions are minimal, and his movements are jerky - at least until his time among the town's residents humanizes him. The method of animated film is also used to construct and bring to life a mysterious house of a genius scientist with plenty of absurd inventions. Even the brightly colored facades of the endlessly stretching family houses resemble the animated film's drawn backgrounds. Edward Scissorhands is also a touching story about unfulfilled love, which is strong enough to overcome the character's different appearance, behavior, and physical deformities, but powerless against societal prejudices, manipulations, and human hatred. Finally, Burton's film is a bitter satire on the small-town American society that is easily manipulated and excessively conformist. Edward Scissorhands has a refined visual style, a strong story, an excellent cast, and great direction. It is a film that doesn't age. Overall impression: 95%. (18/08/2008)

The beautiful visuals just barely avoid becoming kitschy, and the story just barely avoids sliding into sentimentality. Both of these ingredients are exactly as needed in the film, and above all, Tim Burton knows how to capture the precise moment when to use them and when to suppress them. Technically and on the overall formal side (production design, music, costumes), this film is virtually flawless. (11/05/2005)

Perhaps the role of a lifetime for Johnny Depp, who once again managed to merge incredibly with his character and is solely thanks to him that the narrative can take on much greater cinematic dimensions. The story itself is not that great, Burton relies on classics and is not as groundbreaking as in other works, but at the same time he manages to enchant with a perfect combination of visuals and a simple, almost childlike story. What's more, the contrast between the freaky and "weird" looking Edward and the real insatiable jungle of human society works perfectly, with Burton portraying it as only he can: imaginatively, playfully and with great insight. Edward Scissorhands is a film that needs to strike right into the viewer's heart, and if it succeeds, it will keep its place in it forever. In my case, it was BARELY off the mark. (16/12/2012)

I can think whatever I want about some of Tim Burton's current films, but it is precisely "Edward Scissorhands" that showed me the unique magic of this creator. And it's an enchantment for life. This was the movie that I saw maybe shortly after its premiere, or rather when it first aired on TV, and I was so captivated by it that nostalgia hits me every time I see the title. The ending is sad and beautiful, and Burton simply shows who the real monster is. (27/11/2015)