Tim Burton's Corpse Bride: Blu-ray disc DVD Review

(Originally published Sept. 23, 2005)

In the new Tim Burton creep-out, "Tim Burton's Corpse Bride," you know you're in for a treat when our beleaguered hero, the pale, woefully timid and single Victor (voice of Johnny Depp), sits at a grand piano and begins to play an instrument whose brand name isn't what you might expect.

It isn't a Bosendorfer, say, or a Steinway. Instead, it's a Harryhausen.

As any film buff will tell you, Ray Harryhausen was the king of stop-motion animation, with "Mighty Joe Young," "The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms" and "Jason and the Argonauts," among others, all high among the clay feathers in his cap.

In interviews, Burton has referenced Harryhausen's influence on his work, which shows clearly in "James and the Giant Peach" and "A Nightmare Before Christmas," and to lesser degrees in "Mars Attacks," which features scenes that resemble the work Harryhausen did in "Earth vs. the Flying Saucers."

The branding of the piano at the start of "Corpse Bride" is a nice, subtle touch in a movie that doesn't always court either.

Witness, for example, the problems the film's dead characters have with their eyes, which can't seem to stay lodged in their sockets due to the proliferation of worms poking them out. Or how some folks here sport ribs where once was flesh, now long gone due to years of decay and rot. Or the alarming frequency in which hands, feet, heads and limbs come off at will but, thankfully for the dead, are just as easily reattached.

Joined by co-director Mike Johnson, Burton uses the fertile soil on which these characters thrive to find something beautiful in the dead--a freedom not allowed for the living, who enjoy none of the zest death apparently provides.

From a script by John August, Caroline Thompson and Pamela Pettler, the film begins with an arranged marriage between Victor and Victoria (Emily Watson). She wants to wed, he's a bit apprehensive, but neither really seems to have a choice in the matter, anyway, so they're going through with it.

The whole event has been orchestrated by their parents. For Victoria's aristocratic family, the grim Everglots (Joanna Lumley, Albert Finny), who have a formidable title but zip for cash, it means a chance to rebuild their fortune with Victor's new money. For Victor's parents, the misbehaving Van Dorts (Tracey Ullman, Paul Whitehouse), who are little more than upstart fishmongers, it means inheriting a title, thus finalizing their ascension to the society they covet.

But when Victor becomes overwhelmed at the practice ceremony and dashes into the woods beyond the church, he inadvertently puts Victoria's wedding ring on what he believes is a twig. It isn't a twig. Soon, the earth trembles, lightning strikes, and up from the place where the dead live springs the Corpse Bride (Helena Bonham Carter), tattered veil flowing, a shiny ring on her delicate twig of her finger, so thrilled that she has her new intended, nothing is going to sway her from keeping him.

What ensues is 76 minutes of Burton in his sandbox. He's playing here, having fun, and mostly, his efforts come through. There are scenes in which the film drags a bit, particularly in the middle, but those moments are fleeting. Peppered with outstanding animation, the best of the year thus far, and several song-and-dance numbers that could hardly be considered traditional, Burton and Johnson send up death with affection and wit. The ending is the film at its best, eschewing expectations in ways that give these clay creatures the sort of humanity the movie otherwise might have lacked.

Grade: B+