Do you enjoy reviews that begin with bold and pretentious declarative statements? Great! Here goes: Corpse Bride is the most aesthetically stunning film of the year. (Suck on that, Episode III.) Tim Burton's latest stop-motion animated film took 10 years to complete, and it is worth every painstaking second.
Burton-staple Johnny Depp voices the protagonist, Victor, who is arranged to marry the lovely Victoria, voiced by Emily Watson. While practicing his vows for the impending nuptials, Victor places his wedding ring on a twig sticking out of the ground. When said twig turns out to be the ring finger of a deceased bride-to-be, the buried bride takes her new husband to the Land of the Dead. Victor is faced with a choice: Should he escape the underworld or stay with his new wife?
Burton plays it safe with Bride, sticking to the dark, surreal worlds he successfully mastered in films like Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice and Bride's predecessor-of-sorts, The Nightmare Before Christmas. But while Bride's subject matter seems macabre, there's an undercurrent of humor and heartfelt moments that balance out the sinister spots. And, when the title character is constantly losing an eye, self-deprecation is a must.
Burton's creative genius crafts a world of visual splendor rich in jaw-dropping detail that keeps the audience glued to the screen. With exaggerated features and distinctive movements, the character designs alone are worth the price of admission. And the mesmerizing Land of the Dead is filled with memorable sights and unique characters that contrast the dreary, drab world of the living to the vivacious afterlife. "Why go up there when people are dying to get down here?" the skeletal bandleader Mr. Bonejangles says.
Composer Danny Elfman has worked with Tim Burton on almost all of his films, and it's hard to imagine a more successful marriage of music and celluloid. Aside from the bland and unremarkable "According to Plan," Elfman comes through with every composition. The most toe-tapping tune, the jazz/blues-infused "Remains of the Day," will stay stuck in your head for days.
At 76 all-too-short minutes, Bride moves at a breakneck pace, and as a result, some of the characters feel underdeveloped. Victor is a one-note character, a bashful, bumbling fish-out-of-water, and he only gets one scene with Victoria before the morbid mayhem begins, which makes it hard to root for their relationship.
While not as stupendous as The Nightmare Before Christmas, Burton's decade-long pet project is a great film and a welcome change from the generic computer-animated trash flooding theaters (see Madagascar... actually, don't.)
With no Pixar movie scheduled for 2005, the meticulous, beautiful Corpse Bride is a top contender for best animated film of the year.
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