In
Corpse Bride Burton enlists his favourite star,
Johnny Depp, as the leading voice of Victor, a nervous ninny of a young
man who is inexplicably forced to marry Victoria (Emily Watson) a girl
he’s never met. While practicing his
wedding vows in a dark forest he unwittingly places the wedding ring on
the finger of a long-ago spurned—and dead—bride
(Helena Bonham Carter). Victor’s
resulting entrapment into the strange world of the living dead prevents
him from returning to his real wedding where his future in-laws soon
find a replacement groom in the form of a greedy opportunist.
Borrowing from some of Disney’s classic cartoons,
Burton’s dead give a wonderfully entertaining cabaret
performance with dancing skeletons and head (and no body) waiters. The
digitally enhanced filming makes you forget the stop motion.
That’s good in that the quality of the film is seamless and
almost 3D. But it’s bad in the sense that it’s easy
to take the painstaking process for granted. However, that’s
the way Burton likes it — clever, rapid-fire sight gags that
leave you stoked for more of the same. Just as in Nightmare,
the film’s songs and score are done by soundtrack guru Danny
Elfman who deserves praise for music that’s fresh and easily
separate from Burton’s Jack Skellington classic from 1993.
Although the story and dialogue from Nightmare
shined with more imagination, Corpse Bride is still
a well-crafted, deadly little tale that’s full of life. DVD
Extras As
per usual with Burton, there are countless amounts of extras and
featurettes. Some are your usual fluff pieces such as "Inside the Two
Worlds: Includes interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, and production
drawings". But do to the amazing nature of
the way the film
was produced, the featurettes on the creation of the stop-motion process
adds an extras element of intrigue and interest which would otherwise be
lacking if this was just a normal film. "The
Animators: the Breath of Life", finds out how an animator
approaches his
character’s motivation and why individual animators possess
unique
skills, while "Tim Burton: Dark vs. Light" explores what inspired
Burton to bring the Corpse Bride to life. Another
addition is a music-only track, which allows you to watch the film with
solely Danny Elfmans fantastic score playing, and none of that annoying
"Dialogue" or "Plot". Conclusion:
Movie 70% Extras: 60%  |