Tim Burton's Corpse Bride

Rating: 7/10 (31 October 2005)

The Nightmare Before Christmas was a fantastic stop-motion animation film, and this second one from director Tim Burton (Beetlejuice, Batman, Edward Scissorhands, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street) was one I looked forward to, and I'm glad I gave it another chance. Basically shy and nervous Victor Van Dort (Johnny Depp) is getting married to the woman he has never met, Victoria Everglot (Emily Watson), but he is not confident to recite his vows before his parents Nell (Tracey Ullman) and William (Paul Whitehouse), her parents Finnis (Albert Finney) and Maudeline (Joanna Lumley), or Pastor Galswells (Sir Christopher Lee). So he wanders into the forest to get some practise, and he manages to remember the lines correctly, placing the ring on what he thinks is a stick, but is in fact a corpse bride. This is Emily (Helena Bonham Carter) believes that Victor was genuinely reciting the lines to her, because when she died was waiting for her groom to-be to return, but he never did, and she has waiting in her after-life ever since. Victor sees this misunderstanding first as a way to get out of his arranged marriage, but it takes him quite a while to try and genuinely develop any true feeling towards his dead "wife". When it looks like he may actually go through a real marriage with Emily, by killing himself, it is Victoria who brings him "back to life" and he realises his true feelings. In the end, Emily gets revenge on the groom who left her for dead, Barkis Bittern (Richard E. Grant), and she goes back to her "life" in the world of the dead. Also starring Michael Gough as Elder Gutknecht, Jane Horrocks as Black Widow Spider and Mrs. Plum, and composer Danny Elfman as Bonejangles. The voice casting is very good, the animation is splendid, there are some alright songs, and the dark atmosphere is still very much poignant, it may not be as inspired as Nightmare, but it is certainly one worth watching. It was nominated the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film of the Year. Very good!