“I guess you could say my style is a violent reaction to working
at Disney.”
—Burton

Director/ Producer Tim Burton is well known in the world of cinema for his traditional style of the reinterpretation and revitalization of old characters and stories for display to new generations.

His triumpths include “Batman,” and “Sleepy Hollow” as adaptations of works already made, and Edward Scissorhands, whose main character is highly influenced by a character of an earlier expressionist film. He succeeds in the creation of dreamworlds and characters as he plays with the casting and the customes, on the other hand, there seems to be an unbalanced preference for the heroes on his movies since either they are too vulnerable ("Edward Scissorhands", "Sleepy Hollow") or they are just way too coldblooded ("Batman").

Beetlejuice (1988)

Geena Davis became speechless from time to time. Photos © Warner Bros  
Michael keaton goes from bachelor hero, to villain monster in this film.
The film describes the adventures of a newly deceased couple and how they deal with the afterlife, and how an obnoxious family has moved into their home. In their search for ghosts, they unleash a form of renegade spirit Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton) and the rest of the story deals with how they get rid of him.

Fantastic special effects make this a sort of live-action cartoon. Added treat: Sylvia Sidney as harried case worker in the hereafter. Great fun, and surprisingly good-natured in spirit. Music by Danny Elfman, with a strong assist from Harry Belafonte. Academy Award winner for makeup. Followed by an animated TV series.

 

Batman (1989)

Michael Keaton
personifies the
coldblooded Hero. Photos © Warner Bros.
The joker was
the main attraction of the film, which gave Nicholson a 40-50 million paycheck.
The first movie of the new generation of Batmans. New car, new toys and new girlfriend. Keaton delivers a one sided performance where he sticks to the plan of saving Gotham in no time. This leaves the audience begging to know more about him than the fact that his family has been deceased and he wants revenge. Being that the case, he leaves room for his enemy, The Joker (Jack Nicholson) to steal the show.

Nicholson gives a "Two-Thumbs-Up" show as the joker not only becomes the asset that tweaks the plot from side to side. He's also the one that borrows a lot from the cartoons and is funny to the audience, regardless of his always cruel intentions. Keaton's followers in the role (Kilmer, Clooney) do a better job in terms of bringing more personality to the character, on the other hand, the fact that Robin was not on the film could have been the cause of the poor interaction of the character on screen.

Edward Scissorhands (1990)

Burton's Scissorhands or just a new episode of Cesare of Dr Caligari's? Photos © 20th Century Fox
Edward got some gigs in his new hood as a barber and grass cutter. Piece of cake for him...huh?
Young Edward was the greatest creation of an inventor and was gifted with enormous charm. But there was a problem, Edward wasn't finished and sharp metals were given to him instead of hands. Edward lived alone in the darkness until one day a kind Avon Lady took him home to live with her family. And so began Edward's fantastic adventures in a pastel paradise known as Suburbia. Burton borrows a lot from Césare, the sleepwalker villain of Caligari; an expressionist film from Germany.

Burton plays around with costumes and makeup, to build up a character people fall in love with as it is so understandable his vulnerability, his poor skills to commute and his reduced vocabulary. He also creates the myth of the man with sharp hands responsible of the snow falling in Suburbia.

Sleepy Hollow (1999)

Burton's Scissorhands or just a new episode of Cesare of Dr Caligari's? Photos © 20th Century Fox
Edward got some gigs in his new hood as a barber and grass cutter. Piece of cake for him...huh?

 

Modern and scientific police constable Ichabod Crane is sent from New York to the small town of Sleepy Hollow to solve three murders, he arrives confronted by tales of demons and continued murders by The Headless horseman. Burton does a good job once again in adapting a legendary plot for a new generation.
+ summary and film synopses by Harold Martinez
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