The Corpse Bride

I heard my brother was going to see this tomorrow, so I had to see it first :)

Ok, first off, there really wasn’t any way that I wouldn’t like this movie.  I loved Nightmare Before Christmas, and I really enjoy the aesthetic of Tim Burton’s films anyway.  I like Johnny Depp  and Helena Bonham Carter, and I’ve always loved Tracey Ullman  (even though I’ve never recognized her voice in anything – she’s got way too many voices, don’t you know).

Alright then, that out of the way, I don’t think anyone will be surprised that I really liked the movie.  The story was fresh and the writing good – there were only a couple of things that seemed a little trite.  

The look of the film is wonderfully Burton.  It’s a difficult thing to give characters that the audience will care about when the entire premise of the land of the living is that it’s dreary and dull.  The two living leads must be dull, and they are, but there are touches of ‘life’ that help draw empathy – a blush of color on Victoria’s cheek, Victor’s attachment to a sprig of flowers.

The land of the dead is very ‘day of the dead’ish, and in a good way.  But unfortunately, that’s were some of the slightly clichéd things happen.  I imagine it’s a tip of the hat to Disney when you make a little bug/animal/dragon the inner voice of the lead, but perhaps it’s time to try something new.   Although I do have to admit that making that character a Peter Lorre-esque maggot is unique…

Although I really liked the Corpse Bride herself, I personally was more taken with Emily Watson’s character.  There seemed to be more depth there than in the Corpse Bride, and a little less of the slapstick found in Victor.

I also think that some of the songs were a bit oddly placed and written.  The Corpse Bride has a song in the middle of the film that could have been very nice, but it ended up repetitious and interrupted by clever animal/bug companions.  

I feel that most of my pics are nits and it’s obviously well worth seeing if you are even remotely interested.

9/10