1 part musical + 1 part "normal" film = garbage

Rating: 2/10 (8 September 2008)

This film is ruined by the fact it is a musical. The actors CAN'T SING! Their horrible attempts at singing make me want to gouge out my eardrums. Most everything else about the film is great. The actors do a good/great job playing their parts. The story is very fairytale-ish but it works well enough to keep the viewer's attention until the very entertaining climax. Sacha Baren Cohen is annoying but thankfully doesn't last long. The imagery is dark and foreboding and the special affects really enhance the gruesomeness of the violent scenes and the hilarity of the comedic/dream scenes. If only there were no pathetic lyrics and no bad singing.
Tim Burton clearly does not know how to direct a musical. He directs it like he does any of his other films which is not appropriate for a musical. It is awkward to have characters walking around like normal just to spontaneously break out into song. It feels like he took a normal film and spliced/dubbed in musical numbers. Successful musicals do not present things directly like normal films. They hint at stuff allegorically. In this way the singing/dancing is removed from reality and the viewer understands that it is there to emphasize a certain aspect of the plot. Two good examples of this are "Chicago" and "All that Jazz" where the song & dance numbers are presented as sort of dreams or delusions but still serve to explain certain feelings/motivations of the characters.