Corpse Bride- Wacky Claymation Meets Thematic Masterpiece

Rating: 8/10 (30 October 2016)

Corpse Bride is half haunting horror and half wacky musical. The combo may sound strange, but director Tim Burton makes it work, as our heroes Victor (Johnny Depp) and Emily (Helena Boneham Carter) jump back and forth from the underworld and the land of the living. I normally don't like musicals, as the silly choreographed dancing and straightforward lyrics rarely add much to a movie, but there were certainly some redeeming qualities to this movie's show tunes. The swing jazz of the underworld had far more life than the cold hearts of our above ground antagonist (Richard Grant's Lord Barkis) and the uptight Everglots (Joanna Lumley and Albert Finney), and Emily's laments pulled at our heartstrings.