looks stunning

Rating: 8/10 (21 February 2006)

Another excellent film by Tim Burton more than making up for his Planet Of The Apes fiasco! So many signature Burton moments, Victoria's striped dress which looked like it was made from the same cloth as Beetlejuice's suit. The standard Danny Elfman musical set pieces.
Johnny Depp is himself and his puppet looks like a cross between him and Burton himself. Burton has obviously only ever seen Joanna Lumley in Ab Fab or James & The Giant Peach as this is how her puppet looks. Nothing like the stunning beauty Joanna actually is.
The plot is sadly thin in lots of places. The whole "Til death us do part" thing. Victor only needs to say "I was practicing my vows and there was no priest there so we're not married" as a simple explanation and he's out of trouble.
The old skeletons loft looks a lot like The Scientists house in Edward Scissorhands, and I think the reference to Vincent is more likely to be to Vincent Price in Edward Scissorhands.
I love the look of the film and will no doubt watch it again to spot things I previously missed. The whole Alfred Hitchcock homage to The Birds (or it's possibly a homage to The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe).
A few of the musical numbers went on too long, some of them felt too tacked on as after thoughts, but the movie was lovely to watch. A little too long, I'd have chopped about 15 mins from the running time, it's not for kids as they'd start to fidget very quickly as the film takes it's time getting to certain places.
All in all, Tim Burton has redeemed himself.