The big story of the coming weekend will likely be the continued box office strength of The Avengers; however, there is new movie in town called Dark Shadows that will feature yet another pairing of Tim Burton and Johnny Depp.  This time around, Captain Jack Sparrow is a vampire who is locked away for centuries and eventually released into a world that has been completely changed.

Critics have already thrown in their two-cents on the movie, and it certainly appears as if the reaction is mixed at best.  While all reviewers are calling Dark Shadows fun, many are quick to point out that the story is a jumbled mess.  They feel the character back-stories went far too long, leaving the movie feeling like a collection of many elements as opposed to a single entity. Even though this is the only universal gripe against the film, that is a fairly major component that could leave many dissatisfied.

On the other hand, this is a Tim Burton movie, so it is far from an intolerable theatrical effort regardless of a hastily construed plot.  Dark Shadows’ costumes and set designs did not disappoint leading many to grade the film’s production values fairly high.   Add in a performance by Johnny Depp that is largely considered to be ‘top notch,’ and it would seem that reviewers may not hate the horror comedy as much as its current 49% on Rotten Tomatoes might imply.

Early weekend projections have the film pegged at a haul just north of $30 million.  That is no Alice in Wonderland, but it certainly is respectable.