missed it by that much

Rating: 6/10 (24 November 2005)

The Corpse Bride, Tim Burton's second venture to share the magic of stop motion animation to a new generation, is a film I wanted to love. I really wanted to love it. But unlike Victor's piano playing in the movie, it seemed to be a note or two off. Technically the film was superior than his first venture, The Nightmare Before Christmas. In all honesty, the script and music were as good if not better than Nightmare also. But it seemed to lack that emotional tug and enthusiasm that Nightmare has. But before I go further, I leave the disclaimer that Nightmare is probably one of my favorite movies of all time. The Corpse Bride may suffer another flaw with me that is unfair to it- deferred love and praise from a cult classic. Just like that actor or actress who receives an Oscar nomination for a lesser role because last years phenomenal performance was overlooked, The Corpse Bride might have acquired a little extra unearned hype from Burton's first venture that went initially unnoticed by the mass audience. I think that if you were to have seen this film before Nightmare, it would definitely impress. And it did even to me. I watched the whole film and enjoyed myself. The scene where Bonejangles leads his skeleton band is fun to watch. The end actually maintained a solid level of suspense and closed the story on a great note. But ultimately the simple characters, arguably no more complex than in Nightmare, never really stuck to memory for me. And as enjoyable as the cinematic ride was, I guess I would prefer to ride down the cult cinema of Nightmare, not The Corpse Bride, any time.