An Excellent and Well Done Movie

Rating: 10/10 (10 February 2006)

In this excellent and well done movie, a shy groom recites his vows but accidentally marries a corpse in a wedding gown in this funny and well done feature.
Victor is the son of a wealthy fish merchant who is arranged to marry Victoria, a woman he's never met before. Victor has never been involved with anyone and is painfully shy around others and when his parents arrange for him to be married, they're thrilled. Victoria is the daughter of a duke and lady who arranged for her to marry Victor so they can get out of their bankruptcy.
At the rehearsal, Victor has trouble reciting and remembering his vows and the priest throws him out so he can go memorize them. In the forest, Victor recites them perfectly and places the ring on a twig, but then all of a sudden, the twig becomes a skeleton hand and grabs hold of Victor's wrist. When Victor breaks free, the hand comes off and he watches in horror as a figure rises slowly from the ground and takes Victor away.
When Victor awakes, he finds himself in a colorful and lively world full of dead corpses and bony skeletons. He then learns that he is now married to the Corpse Bride, who is thrilled over the marriage. The bride's name is Emily, who's story is one of sadness tragedy and betrayal. Some years ago, Emily was a beautiful lady who fell hard for a mysterious stranger who asked for her hand in marriage. Her father, however, disapproved of the union but the two made a plan to meet and elope. So, Emily went to the oak tree to meet him wearing her mother's wedding gown and carrying the family jewels and a sack of gold but then was murdered by her love who took her riches. But Emily made a vow while lying there dead, a vow that she'd be set free by her true love who is apparently Victor. Although Victor feels sad for what happened to Emily, he longs to go home and marry Victoria, whom he realizes he cares for very much.
Meanwhile, Victoria worries for Victor and realizes how she feels for him. However, her parents are desperate to marry her to someone wealthy. Lord Barkis Bittern offers to marry her and her parents agree without hesitation, much to Vicoria's dismay. Unbeknown to everyone, Barkis holds a dark secret and plans on doing something awful. But how can Victor help and marry Victoria when he is married to Emily and can't go up to the land of the living?
This movie is hilariously funny and charming. A beautiful adaption to a movie that will become a classic. Although I figured out who it was that murdered Emily early on, it is still a movie with watching and one I throughly enjoyed. Johnny Depp voices the shy Victor well and Helena Bonham Carter makes you feel sympathetic towards Emily. A movie worth seeing.