Well directed gothic fairy tale

Rating: Null/10 (11 November 2002)

In 1799 Constable Ichabod Crane is sent from New York to investigate a spate of murders in the small town of Sleepy Hollow. The townsfolk believe that the murders are the work of a headless horseman who beheads his victims but Crane believes it is a matter for logic and science. Crane investigates however his faith in science and logic grows increasingly threatened when he is confronted with things that cannot be explained away by modern police work and logical ways of thinking.
I'm a Tim Burton fan, only finding a few of his films to be misguided or poor. I greatly looked forward to this film, hoping for a nightmarish fairy tale feel to it and for the most part I was rewarded for my expectations. For the majority of the film we are treated to the horseman gleefully wrecking havoc while Crane delivers humour as well as being our wide eyed observer.
The plot itself is pretty free flowing until the last 20 minutes where it becomes a more standard detective mystery of sorts. Many feel this is a letdown and in a way it is mostly because it is a change of pace and style. However it delivers well and has good action and stunts with a good pace. The tidy ends may go against the nature of the film but I still enjoyed it. Up till this point it is very dark and bloody and Burton has stamped his vision all over this.
The cast is full of well know faces and is mostly very good. Depp is funny and deadpan and carries the central role well. On the downside Ricci is pretty poor. She looks good but she has no chemistry with Depp and is pale and fails to make an impact. A support cast of Gambon, Jones, Richardson, Van Dien, Lee and Griffiths all do well and deliver interesting characters. Walken may be limited in terms of screen time but he is an inspired bit of casting and has a strong presence as the horseman.
Overall the majority of this film has Burton's vision stamped all over it. He carries the film well with gleeful bloodletting and a good humour. The end may be all a bit mystery-solving but even it is delivered with some good action scenes. Not Burton's best film but an enjoyable gothic fairy tale.