I have nothing personal against Tim Burton, but from a creative point of view, I've always thought of him as overly dependent on others, very inflexible and somewhat of a hack.

Disclaimer: These remarks target the films that Burton has played a key role in. While he's been on the animation staff and whatnot of many, many films, the following statements refer to the films in which Burton was actively heading in some way, form, or fashion.

Overly dependent: Burton's writing/direction/production have very little to do with what causes a film to be recognized as something "CLEARLY Burton." Danny Elfman's music is one of the biggest key factors to a Burton film. His compositions are easily recognizable and if you hear them during a movie, you can almost rest assured that Tim Burton had something to do with it. If it weren't for Elfman, it would be hard to really tell a "Burton" film from that of just some random writer/director/producer's work.

Inflexible: There are only so many "gothic" films you can make before it gets old. The world is this man's oyster and he's just picking at the edges of it. He's shown time and time again that he's almost virtually incapable of stepping away from his safe zone. He doesn't take chances that he can afford to take with his writing/directing/producing and it really takes away the luster from his name.

A hack: Most of the films that Burton played a large role in have been stories that previously existed. Edward Scissorhands and The Nightmare Before Christmas were original works, but just about everything else came from pre-existing stories. Burton seems to have this annoying habit of taking a perfectly good story, "gothing" up the character backgrounds/designs, and slapping his name on it for praise and glory. The biggest example of this (and the one that annoys me the most) revolves around the recent Sweeney Todd remake. People have poured praise out for the writing and direction and fans have flocked to that man's side once again, claiming the work "genius."

However, through this parade of Burton-love, people neglected to notice that Tim Burton's version was EXACTLY like the play adaptation. The only thing that separated Tim Burton's version from the Angela Lansbury/Len Cariou (or George Hearn) play was the fact that he cast Johnny Depp and, his (Burton's) lover/partner, Helena Carter as the lead roles, despite the fact that neither were vocally trained for their respective roles. In the end, the result was nice, but it was nothing more than a modern-day version of the play.

I do apologize for ranting about the fellow, but... I can't help it. It irks me that he gets so much love and praise, yet his actually originality and talent is very, well, lacking.