Burton tried too hard

Rating: 6/10 (15 November 2004)

Positives: Visually stunning- beautiful scenery and photograpy; unbelievable special effects; well played- for the melodramatic way it was presented; humorous moments along with the scary; and well...it's Johnny Depp!! Negatives: Actually, every not so great moment in the film can be wrapped in the shroud of "trying too hard". As a huge fan of suspense, but not gore, I think Burton went way too far trying to shock with gallons of blood instead of brain. Other than the name "Ichabod Crane", there is very little in the movie which resembles the original-and far scarier-Washington Irving story. It seemed that the goal of the show was to make the audience go, "EEWWW!", instead of hold its breath in fright. I realize some people are into gore...if that is the case then this is one you shouldn't miss. As for me, as a Depp fan- one viewing all the way through was enough. But I do pop in the DVD occasionally and skip through the spewing and squishing to Johnny's clever, sensitive, melodramatic Ichabod. 6.5/10