Edward Scissorhands (1990)
Retro Review #42: Modern master of Dark Whimsy Tim Burton weaves a painfully beautiful tale of satire, fantasy and romance.
Edward Scissorhands (1990) — Modern master of Dark Whimsy Tim Burton weaves a painfully beautiful tale of satire, fantasy and romance.
+ Feature film, 1h 45m🎖️⭐
A+^
Family Suitability
+ ⚠️0️⃣ Problematic for teens and sensitive adults. | PG-13
Alignment with Judeo-Christian Values
+ ❎1️⃣ Fair/Slightly Favorable
Edward Scissorhands (1990)
Grade: A+^ (20.0) / HOF: 90
EQ 👍A++ | 📖A+ 👥A+ 📽️A+ 🎼A+
DW 😎😎12.0 | 🌚12 🌝12
POPCAP 💯n/a 🍿n/a 🧢n/a
L-R ☮️n/a ◀️n/a ▶️n/a 🛐n/a
In fiction, a story about appearance-based prejudice against a perceived monster is nothing new. Frankenstein was originally a 19th Century novel.
Combining that theme with a counterpart character who overcomes prejudice and finds romance with the “monster” may go back much further. Researchers believe that the fairy tale “Beauty and the Beast” originated about 4,000 years ago, and was passed down via oral tradition for centuries until finally being published as a short story in 1740.
Edward Scissorhands, produced, written and directed by modern-day Dark Whimsy master Tim Burton, fits squarely into this category. But don’t make the mistake of thinking that means this film lacks originality. It’s a modern fairy tale that isn’t much like anything else you’ve ever seen or will see.
Our “monster” here is the title character Edward, a young man created by an inventor, with scissors where his hands should be. Some time after the inventor passes away, Edward’s life changes when he’s discovered in his solitude in a Gothic castle high above the suburbs below. He’s found and adopted by a local family, but doesn’t exactly fit in easily with them or their neighbors.
Burton gets superb performances from his cast, especially the stars. Johnny Depp plays the title role. Dianne Wiest is Peg Boggs, the Avon representative who brings him home to her family. Winona Ryder plays Kim, Peg’s teenage daughter.
To my great surprise, imdb dot com does not consider this multi-genre film to be a comedy. To be sure, many viewers miss subtle tongue-in-cheek humor often used in satire. (At least imdb gives the movie credit as a satire.) Personally, I found the humor delicious, quirky, and shall we say, cutting?
The first two-thirds of the film are Burton near the top of his Dark Whimsy game. Funny, but with darkly disturbing overtones. Laughs, while important to Whimsy, aren’t the only contributing ingredients, and Burton stirs several others into the mix.
Then he gets serious. There’s little humor in the last third of the film. It gets darker too.
Shining in the darkness like illuminated snowflakes, we are treated to scenes of breathtaking beauty, heart-rending romance, and powerful emotional impact. In my opinion, there is more than one moment here that ranks among the best moments in cinematic history.
These moments are accentuated by a masterful score from Danny Elfman, composer of over one hundred film scores, who claims this one as his favorite work.
This is another film that is more during Christmas than about Christmas, but setting the last portion of the story in the Christmas season adds perfectly to the poignancy of the unfolding drama.
With so much going for it, this film would easily rank in my top ten movies of all time, maybe even number one, were it not for a few flaws that detracted from the otherwise superb production.
There’s too much borderline content, interrupting the magic of the film, and making the film a questionable choice for parents considering options for their teenagers to watch. The sexual innuendos are the worst of it, but the language and violence from a teenage bully are also iffy for teen viewing. Fifty percent less borderline content would have made the movie one-hundred percent better.
Finally, there was a minor character portrayed as a Christian, and characterized using extremely negative stereotypes of judgmental Christians. Anti-Christian bigotry is always going to offend Christians, but it’s worse when it appears in a movie set during Christmastime.
Stereotypes are generally fictional shorthand for minor characters when you don’t have time to make them more complex. So for them to work, they are usually based on nuggets of truth.
However sometimes stereotypes become so ingrained in the public consciousness that they are believed to be far more representative of reality than they really are.
I think that happens here. I’m sure there are a few Christians in the world who are as extreme as the character in this film. But they are few and far between. I’ve met hundreds of Christians in my life and never one this extreme, that I’m aware of. Indeed, the Christian website whose reviews I regularly read is far quicker than myself to make negative judgments about content in films.
Now, their review of this movie didn’t care for the same objectionable content that I’ve called out here. But unlike the stereotyped character here, the only Christian portrayed in the film, this very conservative website didn’t consider anything in the film, including Edward, to be demonic or Satanic.
Fortunately, there are more positive messages in the film than negative ones. The messages of understanding, compassion and love could hardly be stronger.
Hey, just missing being an all-time great film isn’t bad. This is still a great movie that I heartily recommend for adults, especially those who love Pure Dark Whimsy and romantic fantasy.
Onwards!
+ last viewed (3) 2025-12-18, HDX7, 1.85v, 5M
+ first viewed 1990-12, ThX, 1.85, 6
+ 🧛🎈⛄🎄🌑🦄🧚🧙🥰😍😏😥🌑🥸😛
Family Suitability Detail
+ ⚠️0️⃣ Problematic for teens and sensitive adults. | PG-13
+ 😡-0 😵💫-0 🤬-0 🫢-0 🫣-0
Judeo-Christian Values Detail
+ ❎1️⃣ Fair/Slightly Favorable
+ ✝️ +0 ➕😇❤️❤️❤️🩸(💜)🩷 ➖😍😍💣💣💣🔥(🚬)
+ ✡️ +1 ➕✡️🌗🌗🌗😠🤍🤍 ➖😍😍🤬🫢
+ 🗽 +2 ➕🗽🗽📜(🏦)⬜⬜🚓 ➖😍😍💻
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Great review, my favorite Tim Burton.
Thanks, Cedric.
A favorite of mine also. I haven't seen anything by him that I didnʼt like a whole lot!