An unusual detective story.

Rating: 7/10 (18 November 2003)

What I expected was an horror movie, what I got was a mystery movie. It was a pleasant surprise!
"Sleepy Hollow" is stylish, dark and it has a typical atmosphere, in other words it's a typical Tim Burton movie. But having seen almost every Tim Burton movie I have to come to the conclusion that this one isn't his best movie. But does that mean it's a bad movie? Not at all!
The cast is impressive and full with stars like: Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci, Michael Gambon, Christopher Lee, Ian McDiarmid, Christopher Walken and many, many others. but thank God the cast isn't a celebrity overkill (such as in "A Bridge too Far" is the case.). Especially Depp as in every Tim Burton movie is brilliant! Let's hope this wasn't their last movie together.
Two other things that stood out were the production design (very beautiful and typical Tim Burton sets!) and the musical score by Danny Elfman. Another thing that deserves to be mentioned are the costumes.
Although the movie can be qualified as an horror film the movie never really gets scary and I don't think it was intended to be. The movie is too fun and entertaining to be.
The movie has some nice dialogue especially for Ichabod Crane the Johnny Depp character. However there are some missed opportunities in the script and the conspiracy theories and when everything comes together at the ending might be a bit too much for a movie like "Sleepy Hollow" that should be light to watch. Also I wouldn't have minded the movie to be a few minutes longer.
Nevertheless the are some wonderful moments and lot's of things that make this movie worth watching such as all the headless horseman scene's for which Ray Park did most of the fight scene's.
All in all I see no reason why you shouldn't watch this movie!
7/10
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