This movie wishes it could be The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Rating: 5/10 (10 January 2009)

There can be no doubt about it: this movie made a conscious attempt to recapture the magic of The Nightmare Before Christmas. But it is a failure. The charm, the charisma, the sprightly feel, the memorable characters, the catchy songs, the very soul is missing.
Victor, the hero, is largely to blame. Or rather, Tim Burton is to blame for writing him. Jack Skellington was a fantastic character. He exuded charisma. Victor is a spineless little wimp. I can't count the times I wanted him to be a man and stick up for himself; to do the obvious things he needed to do to win out. But instead he was a passive vessel for everyone's abuse. He is a terrible heart for this film. And when he enters the world of the dead, his introduction, "Remains Of The Day," finds him constantly freaked out and scared by his strange surroundings. The movie shouts, "This is weird and creepy! Doesn't it make you feel uncomfortable? That means we're doing it right!" But of course, after The Nightmare Before Christmas, this world isn't so weird or unfamiliar. We've seen a similar place before. And a better move would have been to show Victor becoming comfortable in this strange world. Remember how "This Is Halloween" invited you into the macabre and bizarre Halloween Town and made you feel comfortable in that fantastic place? Wasn't that a cool feeling? Wouldn't it have been great if your point of entry to the world of the dead wasn't such a spineless ninny?
And now to another flaw that sinks this film: the songs. It's Danny Elfman, of course, teaming up with Tim Burton in the usual way. But this collaboration doesn't have the magic of the Nightmare Before Christmas score. In fact, it feels totally phoned-in. The opening song, "According to Plan," is such a boring piece of exposition with such un-engaging and workman-like lyrics! "Assuming nothing happens that we don't really know,/That nothing unexpected interferes with the show./And that's why everything, every last little thing,/Every single tiny microscopic little thing must go/According to plan." These are lines for a Greek chorus, not for characters who have names! We see this problem in other songs, like "Remains of the Day" and "Tears to Shed." In The Nightmare Before Christmas, the songs contributed to the flow of the piece. It was comparable to The Wizard of Oz. Here they just slow things down and call attention to themselves.
Sure, it's pretty to look at, but the first consideration, the script, was a weak foundation, and the flaws keep this film below the level of simple goodness, hence 5 out of 10 stars. Perhaps Tim Burton should have had Henry Selick direct again. Certainly he should have had the script rewritten and sent Danny Elfman back to the drawing board. The whole thing is an exercise without passion or inspiration. And not to be a formula nazi, but the film needed a third act. It didn't so much end as stop.