Tim Burtons Greatest

Rating: 9/10 (13 June 2004)

Before seeing this film I was decidedly underwhelmed by Burtons recent output. Certainly Sleepy Hollow had a surreal charm, but overall it lacked a spark and some sections of the plot were deeply cliched.

Planet of the Apes was a disaster, and Burtons previous films seemed but a thing of the past.
Then I saw this, and I adored it for so many reasons.
1) Albert Finney/Ewan Mcgregor - Put together fine performances that complement one another, one the idealistic young man out to face the unknown world outside the perfect small town. The other, an aged, dying man forced to come to terms with his almost non-existant relationship with his son.
2) Danny Elfman - Back with a vengance after the boring sounds of Spiderman and Hulk, Elfman has always found a great collaborator in Burton and here is no exception.
3) The ending - Up with my top ten endings of all time. There is no way I shall spoil this for anyone who hasn't seen the film, but it is worth your time and effort JUST to watch these last ten minutes or so. They are among the greatest ten minutes committed to film.
In short, this is among my favourite films now, maybe not top ten material...(except the ending)...but still well worth watching. Especially if you are a fan of Tim Burtons...