excellent!!

Rating: 8/10 (14 April 2001)

I consider this to be Tim Burton's best movie ever, except for maybe "Batman". It only had a couple of small flaws, which I will list now, so as to save the good stuff for last: 1. Many of the fine supporting actors should have been given more screen time, particularly Casper Van Dien and Richard Griffiths. Both of their characters should have been given bigger parts. 2. There is one part of the movie that I didn't get:In the scene when the Horseman goes after that family (a scene that offended many reviewers), why did Tim Burton feel the need to have him go after their young son as well? You find out later why he went after the parents, but he had no reason to try and kill that poor child. However, these two small problems are more than outweighed by the many strong points of this film, which I will now list: 1. Danny Elfman's score. I don't get why any reviewers could be put off by his excellent music. I love how he combined the various types of music which he used in Mr. Burton's other films. By this, I mean that he used scary, thrilling tunes like in "Batman", "Batman Returns", and "Beetlejuice" during certain scenes (such as Ichabod's terrifying encounter with the Crone in the Western Woods, and during the final chase scene), yet in other scenes (like the flashback sequences and the film's final end scene) he made haunting, beautiful melodies like the kind you heard in "Edward Scissorhands". 2. The costumes/ makeup/set design. The costumes were beautifully accurate, and they should have won the Oscar for Costume Design instead of "Topsy-Turvy". The makeup was great, particularly for the scenes when you see the Horseman's real face. You almost couldn't tell that it was Christopher Walken, because the makeup made him look so scary. Tim Burton has created his own little world with the sets. He actually had the village completely constructed, and the Western Woods looked even better, with the dried leaves and the gnarled dead trees everywhere. I'm glad that this movie won at least one Oscar due to the set design. 3. Johnny Depp's performance. I LOVED what he did with Ichabod Crane, and he performed with complete perfection. During the scene when he questions the Notary, he reminded me of Sherlock Holmes. He should have won more awards for his performance. So, basically, if you have a strong stomach, I highly recommend that you see this great movie.