Hilarious black comedy with stunning visuals, perfect for any Burton fan

Rating: 8/10 (28 June 2006)

Watching this for the first time so soon after (re-)watching The Nightmare Before Christmas, I can definitely recognize Burton's style. The slightly slap-stick-y humor, the strong contrasts between the worlds featured, and the focus being firmly placed upon the scary, eery and creepy characters and setting. The plot is well-written(if somewhat predictable) and thoroughly interesting. It moves along very nicely, as well... the pacing is just about flawless. The acting is excellent. The characters are well-written, diverse and colorful. The humor is marvelous. I doubt more than a few minutes passed at any time during the film without me laughing. It's become somewhat more... daring, though, with at least some subtext in just a single joke or two. One can't help but love how Tim presents the world of the living as this dark, dull, and, yes, dead, place, and the land of the dead as so jazzy, vibrant... living. The music is amazing all-round, once again a great job by Danny Elfman. The dialog is well-written. The production values are incredibly high. The animation is (obviously, with more than a decade having passed and technology advancing throughout that time) prettier than that of "Nightmare", though you can definitely see the connection. The tone is more grown-up than that of aforementioned animation classic... that movie was about the search for something else, something different... this is about love. I hadn't expected this to be so... adult. Evoking strong emotion(with puppets, no less, and stop-motion... that takes skill), this turned out to be a far more beautiful love story than I had ever imagined. Anyone not into Gothic visuals, please try to look past this aspect of the film. A very moving, cute, funny tale of love, brought to you by the very master of the beautiful Gothic imagery with the help of some excellent actors and a talented crew. I recommend this to any fan of Tim Burton, romance stories and black comedy. 8/10