Edward Scissorhands (1990)

Originally Written

Tuesday, August 2, 2005

Edward Scissorhands is one of the roles that sky rocketed Johnny Depp's career, began his string of dark outlandish roles, and initiated the long relationship with director Tim Burton. To this day Edward Scissorhands has to be one of the strangest films I have ever seen, a film about a man who was created by a scientist who died before he had the time to make hands for his creation. It's a film that rarely tries to explain anything, and when it does you're usually only left with more questions.

Edward lives on a mountain overlooking the city, in a creepy old castle, until one day the Avon lady decides venture up and try her luck at pawning off some of her cosmetics... and the madness begins. Why did she all of a sudden decide to go up there? How come no one had gone up there before? This was only the beginning of my search for answers. So Pegg Boggs decides to bring Edward home to live with her family. At first he is revered as a freak and people are a rightly nervous of him, then he begins to go around trimming bushes in the shape of animals and people, followed by the styling of dogs and people's hair; now everyone loves him!

Then circumstances begin to change, Winona Ryder's boyfriend convinces Edward to break into his own house so he can steal his dad's stereo equipment, sell it and use the money to buy himself a van. Ultimately Edward gets caught and is blamed for the whole incident, people then start to become afraid of him again, eventually leading Edward to be chased out of town, all escalated because of Ryder's scummy boyfriend. It's a scene that reminded me of the classic Frankenstein film where all the villagers where chasing the monster with torches and pitchforks.

Overall, Edward Scissorhands is entertaining but left me with too many unexplained questions. Why did the scientist give him scissors for hands in the first place!?! Would it not have it been easier and quicker to give him hands right away instead of scissors... or did he want the joy of a personal gardener for a while? Second was Edward a machine or human? He had blood, a heart and a brain, and 50 or more years later (as this movie is told looking back) Edward is still alive and has not aged. And since he could not grip anything how in the world did he get those blocks of ice up to the attic at the end of the film!?! So many strange and unanswered questions left me baffled at times.

But with that said Edward Scissorhands is definitely a unique film, the sets and locations are awesome and the music is perfect. I can't say the story is very in-depth or most of the acting was great, but Johnny Depp does do a wonderful job playing this extremely bizarre yet timid character, and in the end this modern day Frankenstein / Beetlejuice style of film is worth seeing once, at least for curiosities sake.

7/10