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Techtite's Movie Reviews! |
"Only a mind such as Tim Burton's could've made a corpse bride so enjoyable to hang around with." --from the review ------------- Sidebar :: ------------- No sidebar comments for this review. Yet... ...
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Tim Burton's Corpse Bride
A Review by TechtiteI think this is the best time to admit that I am a diehard fan of animation, particularly novel animation...or more specifically, imaginative animation. I love animators who don't try to make another rubber-stamp clone of "animated tale done a hundred times before," and instead tries to tell a story that is fresh and imaginative. The only thing rarer than that is a modern movie that attempts "classic" stop-motion puppetry instead of CGI. That's no easy task in the least. Bravo! For these and many other reasons I loved Corpse Bride. Say what you will about it, but it's not like any movie before. It is the tale of Vincent (voiced by Johnny Depp), whose parents have arranged for him to be married to Victoria. Vincent is a very fragile fellow who botches up the rehearsal so badly he runs into the nearby forest in shame. He tries in vain to rehearse his wedding vows in the forest, so he can get it right upon his return. Yet as soon as he practices putting the ring on what he thought was a tree branch, the branch turns out to be the hand of the half-buried (and long forgotten) "corpse bride." Cynics may ask what is the point to this movie. Well, spoilers intact, here's what I got out of it. The truth is that while life and death can be defined very literally, there is a philosophical debate as well, as to what makes a life "alive." Consider Victor with a life so rigid you wonder if he's allowed to even be alive. Then there is Victoria, who would've most likely fallen madly in love with Victor, and very romantically, had their stodgy parents not made the whole match up into a very unromantic, "arranged" marriage. This is illustrated very brilliantly in the opening song, where the parents sing of how "everything --everything!-- every single little microscopic little thing must go according to plan...!" One would think these people are, philosophically speaking..."dead." What could possibly bring some life into the situation? Along comes Emily, aka "corpse bride." Emily may be dead but just like she was in life, she's a very lively girl. She is basically everything Victor and Victoria only dreamed of being, had they been allowed. This isn't a love triangle as much as a "life" triangle, where Victor and Victoria must learn what love and life truly is... and perhaps along the way, they can help Emily as well, though I won't spoil it for you by saying how. Admittedly, his is not unlike Tim Burton's Beetlejuice, only in this case "Beetlejuice" is nicer, kinder, gentler, and for that matter, dressed in a white wedding gown. However, as you may have surmised, this isn't a tale for the little kids. Not unlike Burton's prior Nightmare, this is sort of an "animated opera" of sorts, where the story is very worth telling, but also very somber indeed. There are no fairy princesses, talking furry animals, or clumsy sponge-people living in pineapples. Mind you; I love movies like that, but that isn't to say I love all my animated movies to be Xeroxed duplicates. This movie is unique, as I said, and the story is inspired. I like that. I also liked the latest ballads by Danny Elfman, even if much like the movie's story, it may not be for everyone. I've heard it said elsewhere that this film has no memorable songs. I have to politely disagree. Not every cinematic song is intended for listening on the car stereo while driving to McDonald's. While not pop music the soundtrack here is very effective and mood setting. There's this one scene where Emily is ticked off at Victor for reasons I dare not spoil. So she is suddenly playing very somber notes on the piano. Victor sits next to her and starts playing happier notes, as Victoria keeps playing somber notes. A sort of "dueling pianos" scene results, which may not make it on many iPods, but the scene was cute, effective and, well..."alive," if you catch my meaning. Yet even the most diehard of fans of Burton's work must admit that this latest tale is slightly flawed. For one thing, the characters aren't as illustrative as they were in Nightmare Before Christmas. Consider how in that film, not a single character looked alike. From rag doll Sally to Jack's skeletal frame to his ghost-dog Zero, every character was totally unique. This film has too many supporting players who look terribly alike, particularly in the realm of the dead, where just about everyone is a tall skeleton, a dancing skeleton, or an elderly skeleton with a beard. From the man who gave us Jack Skellington and Beetlejuice, I expected more. Yet that isn't to say Corpse Bride isn't worth seeing. If you're a fan of Burton, it's still an absolute must see. If you're a fan of gothic ghost stories, well, a "corpse bride" is as macabre as they come! It isn't to say this is a bad film, but with a little spit and polish, it could've been a classic Halloween film. As is, it's simply "good," but that's cool.
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