marvelous costumes and scenery

Rating: 9/10 (10 July 2000)

This was the best 1800 scenery and costumes I've ever seen in a movie. Combined with the clever use/lack of color, they conjured up an image of precisely what we would think 1800 New England would look and feel like.
The worst thing about the movie was the music. It was quite dreadful and lacked any sort of synchronization with the ongoing plot. Mystery music continued through the comical scenes so much that it confuses the watcher and almost hides the comedy itself. It did very little to strengthen the plot and most of the scenes could have done without music entirely as the scenery, color, sound, plot, and acting were more than capable of sustaining the movie's quality.
I really didn't know what to expect when going into this. Some critics bashed it for not sticking to the book and others praised the costumes and scenery. I don't see the veering from the book's plot a weakness at all. In fact, it was much more entertaining and satisfying than the original.
I was a bit confused about Ichabod Crane's character and personality. Although Depp appeared to play what was directed, the character itself seemed to lack the intelligence, experience, and couth you'd expect from the character in the original story. But alas, this is a rewrite, so I probably should not criticize for this.
Christina Ricci (Katrina) definitely shows promise although she appeared to lack enthusiasm. For that much money, you would expect her to be able to "fake it", but it was still a decent job. Miranda Richardson (Lady Van Tassel) had some good moments, but she also lacked enthusiasm and seemed very distant at times. She has proven worthy with perfect performances in "Merlin" and "Alice in Wonderland".
Fabulous performances by all of the members on the town's council, but Jeffrey Jones is still stuck in my head as "Charles Deitz" in "Beetlejuice".
Christopher Walken was absolutely incredible and easily stole the show!! Don't worry, you won't miss him. He was a perfect choice for the role and will be the face to remember the movie by (Sorry Johnny).