Worth paying for!

Rating: 9/10 (30 October 2005)

When seeing 'Corpse Bride', it is hard indeed to not think of Tim Burton's previous animation, 'Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas', in terms of comparison. My friend said to me before I bought a ticket that she had seen both and preferred the latter to the former so far but, in her mind, they all were equally enjoyable.
Once finish watching, I cannot not resist comparing the two, as she did. Nevertheless, I do it with a different sense. Instead of considering which one is better, I rather think that both present us what is missing in one another. 'Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas' is undeniably visualized about the complicated world of Tim Burton himself of which many people  if not his fans - think as abnormal. To me, it becomes outstanding and appealing despite full of darkness. I can see from the elaborate production how much idea and energy all the crews have put down in order to approach such level of expression. However, its content (story, plot, theme) is less attention-grabbing compare to this latest 'Corpse Bride'. In 'Corpse Bride', the content makes the film closed to the traditional drama which I would have planed to produce with human's acting if I had been the director. But the director(s) chose to deal with the stop-motion technique. Interestingly, the way the characters were animated immensely contributes to the illustration of the content. That is beyond marvellous! Instead of the pure form (colourful stop motion), it is the content - strengthened by this cooperative form - that captured my attention from the start to the end. It makes me want to know how that seemingly irresolvable conflict will end.
Yet again, this piece has guaranteed the attractiveness of stop motion. It will never fail to stun, fascinate, and grab our attentions as long as the filmmakers know how to make use of its useful and imaginative value, like Tim Burton and, his co-director, Mike Johnson have done with the film. Worth paying for!