It's a Wonderful Death

Rating: 10/10 (1 November 2005)

In 1993, Tim Burton changed the rules of animated cinema with The Nightmare Before Christmas, a dark, moving, wonderful 'toon musical.Twelve years later, he repeats the miracle with Corpse Bride(co-directed with Mike Johnson), another dark, moving, wonderful 'toon musical.
The movie features Victor Van Dort(Johnny Depp), a young man who, despite being engaged to Victoria Everglot(Emily Watson), accidentally ends up marrying a Corpse Bride(Helena Bonham Carter).And that's just the beginning of a new exciting tour through Burton's original visions, which completely subvert the usual stereotypes about life and death:our world is pretty grey and monotonous, while in the underworld corpses and skeletons spend their endless time singing and dancing all night long(Danny Elfman's score and songs are not as memorable as the ones he composed for Nightmare, but still quite fascinating).
Poetic, touching, funny and visually stunning, this film proves Burton has lost none of his talent and creativity.The vocal cast, including the director's regulars Albert Finney, Michael Gough, Christopher Lee and Deep Roy, not to mention the leading couple, is excellent, and some of them(Depp, Gough and Bonham Carter) are so good you end up feeling you're actually watching those actors, not just hearing their voices.
Perhaps the best movie I've seen this year, at least for the moment.
Everybody should see this as soon as they have the opportunity:Tim Burton's wonderland never stops satisfying the audience...