I purposely avoided posting for a couple of days until things settled down a little
(Plus, I was just returning from a trip so I've been busy anyway). Well, I'm not in love with what I've seen so far, except for the costuming which I personally think is pretty cool. But I actually think that most of the comments I've seen around the web have been along the lines of my own thinking, which is that these are unofficial photos taken out of context, and we have no idea how this will translate to the film itself, so let's wait and see before worrying too much. Like some here, I am heartened by the tweet from Breznican, and also from a poster on my Depp forum who claims to have seen a small photo and says the makeup wasn't nearly as "intense" in that photo (I can't guarantee the veracity of the latter person but have no real reason to doubt him). Either way, I am reminding myself that this is a *vampire* who's walking out in the *sun*, so it's not quite a normal environment for the guy. I am thinking that either this is one point in Barnabas' treatment that makes him look this way, and/or he will look much different on film with the proper lighting. But I'm afraid that this is a very late stage of the filming, so they are not just trying out looks at this point.
At any rate, this is just my own guess but I wouldn't expect them to rush out official photos just based on the reactions of the last few days. I don't think Tim or Johnny care much about the media's first impressions and will probably just continue to do their own thing (don't get me wrong, I still would love to see official photos and hope they do surface soon!) The first glimpses of both Sweeney Todd and Alice's Mad Hatter brought fairly negative reactions, too, and in both cases, especially Alice, it took awhile before they released any official photos. And Johnny very famously stood up for his Captain Jack look when the suits had all gotten nervous, so he is definitely one to stand by what he feels is right for the role.
I think that in general, Johnny is a well loved actor, but MB is absolutely correct that there is a small but very vocal minority that loves to make fun of everything he does, especially when he works with Tim. The oddball looks are the easy targets, but even in conventional roles there will be people who complain that he looks too bland or that this character looks or sounds too much like that character (never mind that it's his *face* and his *voice*! You never hear these complaints about people like Tom Cruise or George Clooney who pretty much look and sound the same in every role-- somehow for Johnny some people always expect more). I've learned to just disregard these kinds of remarks but I can see how they would be disturbing if you're not used to seeing them.