SHE FELL FIRST, HE NEVER FELL 💔💔

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I am perplexed by the over-exuberance of those who have voted on this film. I have a feeling many have voted before actually seeing it. The movie is... fine. It's really nothing exceptional. Nightmare Before Christmas blows this out of the water when it comes to character development, complexity of animation and story telling. Corpse Bride was cute, nice, cliché. While it started with a strong promise and premise, with a glowing gray world with family characters, all went wacky when Victor went into the forest. This is about where you wish you were in the forest with Jack instead. Unlike those you meet in Halloweentown, the dead characters are not interesting, all either blue or bones. The humor and puns are forced and repeated, in case you didn't get that pulling the sword out of the dead dwarf was funny the first, second, third, fourth or fifth time. The songs were great in the beginning, sparse and annoying in the middle. At times, the sound effects were louder than the lines themselves, so lyrics of the songs and/or punchlines couldn't be deciphered. The bride character was so one-dimensional that I didn't care about her, until her act about how she wishes she were alive -- a touching song there. Interestingly, Victoria, through just her "acting" seemed more developed than any of the other characters, save for Victor. Some of the characters' actions were less than motivated. Victor suddenly going from uninterested to willing-to-marry because of sharing a 20-second piano duet with Corpse Bride? The Parents obsessed with finding Victor, then just disappearing out of the story? What saved this film for me was the ending, which, while predictable, was so heart-warming and honest... Great 1st and 3rd act does not a good film make. I don't want to be negative. I'm about as big of a Tim Burton / Danny Elfman fan as anyone else, (sans freakish obsessions or those who think Jack Skellington is some evil bad ass I need to buy on a t-shirt at the mall so my parents will see what a rebel I am), but this movie was little more exciting than Frosty The Snow Man. I didn't hate it. But it wasn't worth my midnight premiere. You might say, "Oh, this is a children's film. It doesn't need character development, a logical story or interesting songs." To that I might say, "Shut up." This film will soon be forgotten, like James and The Giant Peach, whereas masterworks like Big Fish, Batman and Nightmare Before Christmas will live on forever. Thanks for reading.

I am part of a select few here in the las Vegas area, that have been privy to a advance screening of THE CORPSE BRIDE. I have to say it was one of Burton's best. I used to think his animated short VINCENT, was his second best. Having JUST seen the movie ( no more than 45 min ago ) This movie was just as good as nightmare. Actually, you could see were there are even better moments in the CORPSE BRIDE. ( IE new camera moves ). All in all, this movie is a 10!! I am going to be seeing it MANY more times before it is let out of theaters. HIGHLEY recommended!! As always, Mr. Burton has NOT let us, his lowly Fanboys down! ;)

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source: Corpse Bride

Tim Burton and Johnny Depp? Sign me up for it, anytime! I've pretty much enjoyed their collaborations, from Edward Scissorhands to Sleepy Hollow. Hot off the heals from their box-office success Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, their latest collaboration sees Depp lending his voice to Burton's macabre vision in a stop motion animated movie, along the veins of Nightmare Before Christmas (NBC). The story's a little bizarre, a little morbid, but hey, it's Burton on familiar grounds. The Von Dorts and the Everglots have agreed to an arrange marriage between their children Victor (Depp) and Victoria (Emily Watson), but Victor, fumbling the marriage rehearsals, runs away to seek solace, and accidentally unleashes the Corpse Bride Emily (Helena Bonham Carter, giving the character an impeccable Brit accent). So begins a crazy love triangle of sorts, involving characters from both the realm of the living and the dead. Surprisingly, Burton managed to squeeze a couple of subplots into this relatively short film, and touched on themes like arranged marriages, what's in it for both families (The Von Dorts are the newly rich, wanting to add prestige to their family name, while the Everglots are bona-fide aristocrats who've gone bust, and need the dough to continue their lifestyle and save face). Different facades of love are exhibited between Victoria-Victor-Emily, one which is the more conventional (and maybe improbable?) "love-at-first-sight", while the other, growing to love a person (though it happened within 24hrs, so what?) You might be able to guess the ending and the relations between some of the characters mid-way through the movie, though some might prefer an alternative ending. If you're acquainted with Burton's works, it's typical of him and his style, so you'll see it coming the way it was, as per his dark visions. The art and characters are very NBC-like too, with their small heads and extremely long limbs. Stop-motion is difficult to do, and watching it in a digital format brings out the crispness of the figurines. Burton loads the film with many supporting characters, each with its own zany behaviour, and some even spoofing characters from movie classics. Somehow Christopher Lee's Pastor Galswells suffered from LOTR's shadow and always reminded me of Saruman, though I think the reference was unintentional. And what's an animated flick without humour? Corpse Bride has tons of references, and both physical and dry humour to satisfy both camps. The music's also top-notch, but what can you less expect from another long time Burton partner Danny Elfman? Though you can hear shades of Batman in the instrumentals, the songs and lyrics are really a class of their own, bringing this musical to life, just like what Elfman managed to do for NBC. Highly recommended, even if it means forking out S$9.50 on a weekend for a less than 80 minutes show. I can't wait for another dark stop-motion animated movie from Burton. Bring it on I'd say!

This is not my favourite Tim Burton movie by a long shot, but I did find myself enjoying it. The animation is absolutely amazing with the dark bold colours and inspired visual ideas. The music is good too, it adds very well to the atmosphere. The four songs are pretty decent, if nothing special. Remains of the Day was the one I liked best. The script is witty and deliciously dark in places, while the story is clever and fairly original, even if it drags slightly occasionally. The characters are wonderfully quirky and the voice work from the likes of Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter is top notch. All in all, a beautifully crafted film, if not quite Burton's finest hour. 8/10 Bethany Cox