A masterpiece

Rating: Null/10 (4 January 2000)

This latest cinematic retelling of the Washington Irving classic The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is a moody, brilliant work, but fans of director Tim Burton have come to expect nothing less from the filmmaker.
As with all great films, Sleepy Hollow is anchored by a great screenplay, and this film features yet another dazzling effort by former Tower Records-clerk-turned-Seven writing phenom Andrew Kevin Walker. (Walker also shares a "story-by" credit with Sleepy Hollow's co-producer, and special effects artist Kevin Yagher.)
Walker's script changes to Irving's tale are minor, but clever and incredibly effective. No longer a schoolteacher, Walker's vision of Ichabod Crane - perfectly played by Johnny Depp - is that of a skittish, eccentric police constable from New York City.
On the eve of a new century (1799, that is), Crane is sent by his superiors to a quaint Northern New York town known as Sleepy Hollow, so he can use "the latest in scientific techniques" to apprehend a head-severing perp known to the locals as The Headless Horseman. Indeed, much of the humor of Depp's character stems from his use of his own nascent version of forensic pathology, and Crane's unconventional investigative techniques - in a time of witchcraft and superstition - cause immediate friction with the locals.

Once in town, Crane learns about the Horseman's legend, which purports he was once a bloodthirsty soldier sent to hell after his own head was taken by his enemies. And the awkward young constable also meets the daughter of a prominent town figure, the beautiful Katrina Van Tassell (Christina Ricci), and she and Crane immediately gravitate toward one another. However, the Headless Horseman's affinity for lopping off the noggins of townspeople puts their budding romance on hold.
Crane soon realizes that - science be damned - there's no debunking to be done in Sleepy Hollow, and the Horseman is terribly real. Burton's vision of the Headless Horseman is truly frightening - an adversary possessing unspeakable power and unbelievable fighting prowess. Played for most of the film by Ray Park - the multitalented martial artist behind the tatooed face and double-bladed lightsaber of Phantom Menace's Darth Maul, the Horseman is more than a match for Crane, or any of the townspeople - except for the one who summoned the dark rider from hell.
The movie also stars Christopher Walken, veteran character actor Jeffrey Jones, as well as legendary British thesp (and another Phantom Menace alum) Ian McDiarmid. Miranda Richardson is also brilliant, as is the bevy of lauded British stage actors, including Michael Gambon, Christopher Lee (soon to appear in Lord of the Rings) and Michael Gough.
Tim Burton's latest achievement was a dream project for many of the film's principles, and it shows. Sleepy Hollow is a masterpiece, securing the director's place among cinema's greatest storytellers.