CriticSociety- film reviews

Review

Corpse Bride

Director

Tim Burton

Mike Johnson

Year

2005

Rating

Reviewed by

José Ruiloba a.k.a. Morris

Review date

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

If I had to choose a favorite movie collaboration, the combination of director Tim Burton, actor Johnny Depp and composer Danny Elfman would certainly come up as a likely choice. They were born to work together. Corpse Bride, their latest venture, comes in the heels of a long-awaited follow-up to the Tim Burton-produced The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993). And even though they have barely anything in common, it can be stated that it will please almost everyone, if I may say so.

Victor (voice of Johnny Depp), a common man from a humble family who became rich, is about to marry Victoria (voice of Emily Watson), a common woman from a well-positioned family with barely any money left. It is a fixed marriage, and both of them meet the day of their wedding rehearsal, which goes terribly wrong despite the fact that they really liked each other. In his desperation, Victor runs to the woods and inadvertently wakes up a death bride (voice of Helena Bonham Carter), who brings him to her land and immediately falls for him.

I love how the movie is filled with Burton’s wicked sensitivities. The movie is based on a Russian folk tale, and is spiced up with a bit of Mexican tradition. Burton chooses to present the land of the living in dim tones, almost black-and-white, making an allegory of the sad state of a hypocritical society. But on the other hand, he opts to present the land of the death in bright, colorful tones. It’s a party down there, and I’ll leave the implications of that to you…

Surprisingly enough, the movie is sweeter than expected. Sure, it is filled with black humor. But at the end of the day we fall for each of the three main characters. We don’t really know who we want Victor to end up with, and that’s a testament of the movie’s strong sense of character development. Victor, Victoria and Emily are wonderful creations, each with its own peculiar and irresistible personality. And even though we may know where the movie is heading, it’s always surprising and has a beautiful, heart-warming finale.

I have a couple of quibbles though. The movie took a while to get going for my taste. Some of the jokes fall flat, especially at the beginning. But the last half hour is pure magic. I was also disappointed, and I can’t believe I’m writing this, by Danny Elfman’s work. His score is uninteresting and the songs absolutely forgettable. I guess the movie lacks a certain oomph that is difficult to describe at times, but at others it’s breath-taking.

My favorite two scenes in the movie, incidentally, involve music. They involve pianos… and are simply wonderful. I also got a kick out of Victor’s dog. That dog is responsible for the biggest laugh I got from the movie.

The voice work is uniformly good. Depp, Watson and Helena Bonham Carter are joined by Albert Finney, Tracey Ullman and Christopher Lee among others. Great work by all.

Amazing visual imagery and a wonderful tale are just some of the small pleasures this movie has to offer.

"Why go up there when people are dying to get down here?"

CriticSociety en Twitter | CriticSociety en Facebook

Share on Facebook | Share on Twitter

Other reviews of Corpse Bride (2005): Groucho

Review

Corpse Bride

Director

Tim Burton

Mike Johnson

Year

2005

Rating

Reviewed by

Gon Curiel a.k.a. Groucho

Review date

Monday, October 31, 2005

I never knew what to expect of Corpse Bride, in fact I never gave it a thought until I had a chance to see it. What a pleasant surprise! Not a masterpiece, but good fun to behold. Also a simple, little movie that’s harmless, nice, short and lighthearted. Its main characteristic is its use of stop-motion animation, a fine, flawless job, and a very funny one too. The eccentricity of the story is highlighted by the way it’s presented. I really liked the visual experience.

The story has Victor Van Dort (Johnny Depp) about to marry Victoria Everglot (Emily Watson), though they have never met. Their parents have arranged their marriage for different reasons which don’t include their children’s happiness. On the day of their wedding rehearsal, everything goes wrong: Victor and Victoria meet and fall in love, but Victor is too nervous to say his vows correctly. The Pastor (Christopher Lee) is too upset after so many mistakes, and deems it impossible to marry these two. Depressed, Victor wanders around town, attempting to get his vows right. His love for Victoria is revealed. While at the graveyard, he opens his heart and says the magic words, getting them right for once. To his misfortune, he has said his vows to a dead woman who was murdered by her fiancée and swore to wait for the right man. This is Emily, the Corpse Bride (Helena Bonham Carter). Now Victor is married to a corpse, and he’s summoned to the land of the dead. While this should freak him out, it mostly makes him reflect: Where is his life going?

Though the story and its presentation are grim, the mood is overly funny in a dry kind of way, which makes it special. How else could a story about a man engaged to a corpse be treated except with black humor? Every character seems to be twisted except Victor and Victoria. Their parents, hers broke aristocrats (Albert Finney and Joanna Lumley), his nouveau rich (Tracey Ullman and Paul Whitehouse), are caricatures if anything, but circumstances force them to get out of their mold, to hilarious results. Everyone at the land of the dead, especially wise Elder Gutknecht (Michael Gough), is peculiar people, and even Emily is a mixture of wicked and voluble. The result of seeing Victor surround himself of so many strange characters is pure pleasure.

This is a musical, the kind where music and song flows with the story and never interferes but instead makes things quicker and more entertaining. One of them reminded me of Dumbo (1941), which helps. Danny Elfman’s music is a real standout and his songs are lots of fun. A couple of sequences involving piano playing are quite moving.

The problem with the story is that despite its originality, it has several clichés, especially concerning a scheming character called Lord Barkis (Richard E. Grant). However, I admit I didn’t know how the story would end and I was satisfied by the way the ending was handled.

Finally, the performances are as good as they get. Depp’s low-key interpretation is perfect for the part, and Bonham Carter’s cheerful one is a perfect contrast. Everyone else is really great, though I enjoyed Gough more than anyone else.

“Why go up there when people are dying to get down here?”

Gon C Curiel en Twitter | CriticSociety en Twitter | CriticSociety en Facebook

Share on Facebook | Share on Twitter

Other reviews of Corpse Bride (2005): Morris