Rating:
****/*****, or 8/10
Tim
Burton's love for traditional stop motion animation, already evident
in The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), is further displayed
in Corpse Bride, which also sees his fifth collaboration with
his muse Johnny Depp (and the third with his lover Helena Bonham
Carter). A young man (Depp) is forced to wed a woman (Emily Watson)
by both their obnoxious greedy parents, though the pair carries
genuine affections for one another. When practicing his vows alone in
the dark woods, he accidentally places his ring around a female
corpse's finger, after which he finds himself married to this woman
(Carter) in the afterlife. Though it's a far more cheerful and colorful place than the one he just left behind, he wants to return
to the world of the living to finish the marriage before his bride is
suckered into marrying a ruthless impostor out for her money.
Meanwhile the corpse bride herself has some unfinished business up
above. Applying his typical dark Gothic visual style to every aspect
of the animation process, the movie is first and foremost a
celebration of life, love and (the unavoidability of) death (which
makes it ironic the movie is done with puppets instead of real
actors, save for the voice work). Why be gloomy over death when you
can't escape it anyway? Stop worrying about it and learn to love life
instead! Such life lessons are most effectively, and wonderfully
devoid of cheesiness, delivered via a series of swinging songs,
courtesy of Burton's regular composer Danny Elfman (11th
collaboration) which provide the most fun in this delightful movie.
However, the off-beat look to the animation and a decent number of
visual and dialogue gags also make for a great time to be had by
young and old alike. Burton would return to stop motion for
Frankenweenie (2012).
Starring:
Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Emily Watson
Directed
by Tim Burton and Mike Johnson
USA/UK:
Warner Bros., 2005
