The Corpse Bride definitely Rises to the Occasion

Rating: 8/10 (12 October 2005)

Halloween is almost here and there is no better way to get in the spirit than by watching Tim Burton's Corpse Bride written by John August and Pamela Pettler and directed by Tim Burton and Mike Johnson.
Financial trouble in the family has forced two somewhat dull and unhappy people to be wed. Victor Van Dort using the voice of Johnny Depp and Victoria Everglot with the voice of Emily Watson are meeting for the first time only days before their wedding. Both have suspicions of one another which are demonstrated by Victor's inability to say his vows during their wedding rehearsal. This uncertainty causes Victor to stumble into the woods and change his fate forever.
While perfecting his vows, Victor unknowingly slips a ring upon another's finger resulting in a marriage between himself and the corpse bride played by Helena Bonham Carter. From here the plot thickens and the magic continues to unravel.
The animation in this movie is spectacular - it could almost be described as life-like if most of the characters were not dead. It is apparent through both the Corpse Bride and Tim Burton's last spooky computer animated movie The Nightmare Before Christmas that skeletons hold a special place in his fantasy world.
The skeletons in Corpse Bride are very realistic and eerie. The recent dead appear a pale blue, those that have been deceased for a longer period of time have begun rotting away showing their skeletal interiors and those that have been dead for a while are nothing but bones.
This movie is PG for some creepy scenes and frightening scenarios which might scare younger children and those faint at heart. However, this is a great film for everyone - not just children, families and Burton fanatics.
Overall the Corpse Bride deserves three out of four stars. Tim Burton's wild imagination has proved magical once again. The Corpse Bride is not as mesmerizing as The Nightmare Before Christmas, but definitely worth adding to your DVD collection.