 Tagline: Land of the living?...now why go up there when people are dying to get down here? Tagline: Loving You Is Like Loving The Dead Tagline: I've never seen a bride look so...lifeless. An Academy AwardŽ nominee and National Board of Review Award winner as 2005's Best Animated Feature, Tim Burton's Corpse Bride carries on in the dark, romantic tradition of his classic Edward Scissorhands and Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas. Set in a 19th century European village, this stop-motion, animated feature follows the story of Victor (voiced by Johnny Depp), a young man who is whisked away to the underworld and wed to a mysterious Corpse Bride, while his real bride, Victoria, waits bereft in the land of the living. Though life in the Land of the Dead proves to be a lot more colorful than his strict Victorian upbringing, Victor learns that there is nothing in this world, or the next, that can keep him away from his one true love. It's a tale of optimism, romance and a very lively afterlife, told in classic Burton style. Storyline: Set back in the late 1800s in a Victorian village, a man and woman by the names of Victor Van Dort and Victoria Everglot are betrothed because the Everglots need the money or else they'll be living on the streets and the Van Dorts want to be hight in society. But when things go wrong at the wedding rehearsal, Victor goes into the woods to practice his vows. Just as soon as he gets them right, he finds himself married to Emily, the corpse bride. While Victoria waits on the other side, there's a rich newcomer that may take Victor's place. So two brides, one groom, who will Victor pick? Written by XxCherrySodaxX Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Martin Liebman, May 10, 2008 -- Land of the living?...now why go up there when people are dying to get down here? If ever a director could be labeled "dark," it would be Tim Burton. His best movie, and arguably the finest superhero movie of all time, 1989's Batman, is the most popular example of his trademark dark style, while Sleepy Hollow and Corpse Bride are also projects representative of the director's stylistic approach. It's the latter film that concerns us in this review, the 2005 song, dance, and stop-motion animated hit film which perfectly captures the filmmaker's trademark style, creating an atmospheric, odd world replete with musty locales, dark, devious characters, creepy visuals, and Burton staple Johnny Depp (From Hell) voicing the lead role. I've never seen a bride look so...lifeless. It's the day before a major wedding, and bride Victoria (voiced by Emily Watson, The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep) and groom Victor (Depp) have never met. The setting places us in the Victorian era (the names of the characters should clue you in if the dress of the characters, the ornate settings, and means of transportation didn't already), a time when marriages were pre-arranged for the benefits of the families rather than for the love felt between the couple. When the two finally meet, alone, following a piano solo by Victor, they seemingly find themselves enamored with one another more so than they expected, but their meeting is cut short when they must attend the wedding rehearsal. Unable to perform his basic duties as groom, including reciting his vows and lighting a candle, Victor vanishes to the woods to practice. When he recites his vows and places the wedding ring on what seems to be a branch, a dead woman rises from the ground, the ring on her finger, and accepts Victor's vows! Victor soon finds himself amongst the living dead in an underground tavern, where the living dead engage in song and dance about the recent wedding between Victor and his "corpse bride," Emily (Helena Bonham Carter, Planet of the Apes). Victor finds himself suddenly and unexpectedly married, but not to the girl he expected (and not even a warm-bodied one, at that). Meanwhile, Victoria is courted by a new, wealthy suitor, and her parents, desperate to come into money from anywhere they can find it, accepts his offer. Victor must choose between fighting for Vicotria or remaining with Emily and keep the vows that he (unknowingly) made to her in a ritual that could literally kill him. I'm simply not sure what Tim Burton is trying to say with Corpse Bride. Take, for example, the completely lifeless, bleak, devoid of color look of the "land of the living." The scenery and people are positively cold, nearly devoid of color. The "land of the dead," on the other hand, is lively, colorful, and fun, the characters full of vigor and verve, their faces anything but the ghastly look of the living. We've seen drab and dull cinematography before, deliberately filmed that way to set a specific mood and enhance the tone and themes of the story (see, for example, Million Dollar Baby, a film where this style is employed and proven most effective). Here, perhaps, the dead are supposed to be depicted as the more rational and sensible in their approach to marriage. They marry for the meaning of the vows, not for money or prestige, although Emily and her fellow dead-ites (to borrow a phrase from a far superior series of films) take Victor's vows as gospel, even though he had no idea he was reciting them to anyone who could hear them, let alone a corpse. Emily is portrayed as the most sensible character in the film, seemingly the only one to realize the true meaning of marriage. One thing's for sure, stop-motion animation has come a long way since the days of 1933's King Kong and 1957's 20 Million Miles to Earth. There is no denying that, even if I wasn't enamored with the coloring and mood of the movie, the animation is wonderfully detailed and flawlessly rendered, with fine attention to every aspect of the worlds we become privy to during the film's extremely short 77 minute runtime. The movements of the characters are so good that its hard to think the movie isn't wholly computer generated. Rather, the images were captured one frame at a time with a simple digital camera, a remarkable feat to be sure. The movie is well worth watching if for no other reason than to marvel at the painstaking effort that must have been involved to bring this movie to a finished product, one that is highly polished and perfectly respectable, regardless of any reservations I may have had with the final style, tone, and story of the movie. I know that Tim Burton's Corpse Bride has a legion of fans, but the film simply never spoke to me or piqued my interest, Burton's odd depiction of light and dark and life and death never making the impact on me that he must have been aiming for. Nevertheless, the film is a visual treat in terms of the excellent stop-motion animation, the method definitely befitting the material and the effort that went into creating this film definitely worthy of praise. The Blu-ray version of Corpse Bride is a solid effort from Warner, the picture quality ranking among the studio's best offerings, and the soundtrack, despite not being presented in high definition, is an excellent listen nevertheless. The supplements are many and mostly interesting, providing a solid if not slightly underwhelming look at the process of making the movie. Fans of this movie should be eager to add this one to their Blu-ray collections. Cast Notes: Johnny Depp (Victor Van Dort [voice]), Helena Bonham Carter (Corpse Bride [voice]), Emily Watson (Victoria Everglot [voice]), Tracey Ullman (Nell Van Dort / Hildegarde [voice]), Paul Whitehouse (William Van Dort / Mayhew / Paul The Head Waiter [voice]), Joanna Lumley (Maudeline Everglot [voice]), Albert Finney (Finis Everglot [voice]), Richard E. Grant (Barkis Bittern [voice]), Christopher Lee (Pastor Galswells [voice]), Michael Gough (Elder Gutknecht [voice]), Jane Horrocks (Black Widow Spider / Mrs. Plum [voice]), Enn Reitel (Maggot / Town Crier [voice]), Deep Roy (General Bonesapart [voice]), Danny Elfman (Bonejangles [voice]), Stephen Ballantyne (Emil [voice]). IMDb Rating (11/21/09): 7.5/10 from 54,497 users
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
