I agree completely with the penultimate paragraph in this new review. The opening of the movie (the comedy-free "first eight minutes" SGS alluded to in his video interview) was delightful and showed a promising balance of a sweeping gothic tone and some light humorous touches. Had that blend been maintained throughout, I would have been thrilled and could have gone from being a movie skeptic to a movie convert. But [spoiler]once Barnabas is released from the coffin, the movie turns into a farce with sex, boob, and fish-out-of-water jokes that mostly feel strained and sad to me.
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One of my comments at the screening was that I wished the prologue had been more fully fleshed out--partly because I always enjoyed the 1700s period on the show most, partly because I thought this sequence was the best part of the movie, and largely because, as written, I felt that the sequence moved too quickly and would be too confusing to a naive viewer. [spoiler]For example, we who watched the original series understand why Angelique attacks the Collins family. Mainly, she's trying to hurt Barnabas by hurting the people he loves, but she is also a proud and covetous woman who resents the family treating her like a servant (even though she is one). In the film, I don't understand the motive for her grudge against the Collins family once Barnabas has been entombed. Why does she want to be their business rival? What does Angelique gain by trying to ruin them? For that matter, I don't think the prologue emphasized that Barnabas treated Angelique callously or showed just why she would still be so hung up on him 196 years later. Hence, I was hoping by the comments in the AICN review that a little more exposition would have made it into the final cut. This review makes that possibility seem unlikely.[/spoiler]
ProfStokes