Big Fish, Tim Burtons return to form after Planet of the Apes, comes in the form of Big Fish, the adaptation of Daniel Wallace’s novel of the same name, which to my knowledge, isn’t very well known, Big Fish revolves around Edward Bloom (played in his youth by Ewan McGregor while Albert Finney plays Edward Bloom in his older days) And his son William (Billy Crudup) who have a falling out at the beginning of the film as William has gone all his life hearing of Edwards amazing adventures. His youthful encounter with a Witch (Helena Bonham Carter) who gives Edward a glimpse of how he’s destined to die.

 

Armed with this knowledge Edward sets off to make a name for himself, so that everyone far and near would remember “Edward Bloom” for his achievements, and Edward does, he encounters a giant, tames a Werewolf, fights in the war, visits and rebuilds the Twilight Zone reminiscent town of Spectre, he makes friends far and wide and becomes a man of legend.

 

Or Myth as William has grown tired of the same stories that were told to him time and time again. William gives up on his father. William is then notified that his father has fallen ill and must return home, William takes it upon himself to reconcile with his father and try to separate the man from the myth.

 

Firstly the film is superb with Ewan McGregor as the Young Edward Bloom, as he works at a circus carnival with the payment being a single mere fact about a woman Edward lays eyes on for mere seconds, a woman so enticing that Edward goes through a number of daring activities just to know his mysterious love “Likes music”. These facts Edward memorizes and repast to himself as a mantra that if he can hold on he could use that arsenal of knowledge to win her over. When the payoff comes and Edward will go to no lengths to proclaim his love for her with a sea of daffodils its perfect imagery (of course it is, it’s Tin Burton)

 

Billy Crudup does a admirable job as William, who must sort through the mess of Edwards past and present for a glimpse at the real Edward Bloom, Albert Finney, playing Edward in his old state is great throughout though at the start I couldn’t really understand what he was saying due to his accent.

 

Special props to Steve Buscemi as the flimsy poet of Spectre who agrees with Edwards outlook on Spectre and leaves for bigger things, Buscemi is his typical self, god bless him, he’s awesome in this.

 

Tim Burton’s Big Fish displays the maturity of Tim Burton. It doesn’t carry as many of his trademarks as you’d expect, it isn’t a dark and twisted world that Burton brought to life in Sleepy Hollow or Nightmare Before Christmas, What Burton demonstrates here is a serious film with toned down elements from his previous efforts, I’ve always thought “God help us when Tim Burton grows up”, this eases my worry. Big Fish is a fine film by Tim Burton. Even if he’s decided to downplay his Burtonesque fantasy elements

 

The score by Danny Elfman mirrors Tim Burtons maturity, Danny Elfman’s score, while fine and fitting the film doesn’t have much distinctness from his earlier works, and this has been a continuing trend and some of his more recent attempts have not reached the manic zaniness of Nightmare Before Christmas, the damn well finest Elfman scored film your ever likely to hear. Anyways Big Fish is one of those “Danny Elfman lite” scores, joining the ranks of Spider-man, Hulk and a bevy of other Elfman scores that are not very memorable on its own (LIKE THE BATMAN THEME!)

 

But other than those semi gripes Big Fish is a great look at father-son relationships, displaying Edward Bloom as a living, breathing tall tale, a man that despite the fabrications is still a man of great importance and Burton, back to form displays that he can pull off a fantastical story in a modern setting.

 

 

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