Burton was made for Sleepy Hollow.

Rating: 10/10 (8 January 2008)

Tim Burton's entire career has been based on films that provide the paradox of a hauntingly magical style. I believe that Sleepy Hollow can be described as the perfect Tim Burton picture in the sense that it captures everything that comes to mind when you think of the man. The Gothic style, haunting ambiance, bizarre and wickedly charismatic humor and a sense that you're living in a dark fairy tale for a few hours. It stays morbidly entertaining all the way throughout and never fails at keeping you on the edge of your seat. Burton crafts another phenomenal work that utterly defines his unique style.
Everyone knows the story of the Headless Horseman from their childhood, but this takes a much darker and necessary tone to the tale than seen before. The technical aspects of the feature certainly help to achieve this and create wonders for the eye to behold. The sets are vast and glorious, creating that perfectly Gothic ambiance and almost Wicker Man-esquire eeriness. In fact the entire film has a lot of similarities with The Wicker Man from the supernatural ideals to the suspense of knowing that something is going on that is much bigger than what we believe. The cinematography, costumes and visuals all add to create a poetically dreary experience that is sure to please in every element.
Burton also shows his strong ability in the casting category. The choice of Depp for the leading role of Ichabod Crane (a character who was portrayed as brutally unattractive in the story) is an odd one at first glance, but the decision to show his flaws through personality made Depp the perfect man to nail this one. I've always thought that the contrast between Ichabod and the Horseman is an interesting one; Crane is a man who lives inside his head and seems bizarre to society, Horseman is a man with no head and strikes fear into society, and Depp certainly captures the quirky eccentricities and creates one of my favorite performances of his. Burton also showed his sense of humor through the casting, by picking out wildly charismatic men to play the leaders of the community (Michael Gambon and Richard Griffiths being the two best examples). Miranda Richardson also delivers a fantastic performance and almost steals the show. All in all, a wickedly entertaining picture that is sure to delight through and through.