WHAT I LIKED: 'Edward Scissorhands,' may well be yet another Tim Burton film about a weird and wonderful world and a strange outsider character who doesn't understand the conventions of the caricatures within it, but for once from this director, all of that is used to tell a story that actually deals with something thematically. We all know of course that the film follows a recluse with scissors for hands (Johnny Depp) being dragged into a satirical suburban-America bubble by, of all people, an Avon lady (Dianne West). But the way everyone treats him crucially says a lot about how folks fetishise, and then ultimately demonise difference.
Initially, those in the neighborhood of clean-cut lawns and uniformed coloured houses are fascinated by him and treat him like an object of fascination or desire; getting him to trim their hedges, cut their hair, and even attempting to bed him. But as soon as he does something that doesn't fit within their expectations, he's hung out to dry and seen as a terrifying evil to shun from the community. That's all rather thought-provoking, but it only hits you in the heart as well as the head because Johnny Depp does such a great job of bringing the character to life through both his timid, seemingly self-taught physicality, and his kind yet terrified face.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: The world on show is still very much a caricature, and that arguably removes room for much nuance or humanity beyond Ed himself.
VERDICT: 'Edward Scissorhands,' is a masterfully realised original fairytale from Tim Burton that, for once, is actually about something beyond its crazy ideas and caricatures.
