Tim Burton's Corpse Bride
Starring: Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Emily Watson, Tracey Ullman, Paul Whitehouse, Joanna Lumley, Albert Finney, Richard E. Grant, Christopher Lee
Directed by: Tim Burton, Mike Johnson

Tim Burton's Corpse Bride Reviewed by Paul Heath

A CORPSE BRIDE is brought to the screen from the mind of legendary director Tim Burton. The stop-motion animation took me back over a decade to his last movie on this medium, the superb THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, which I had the opportunity to see on the big-screen. Unfortunately, I missed CORPSE BRIDE at the cinema on it's initial release, but being a fan of 'NIGHTMARE', I was really looking forward to bunging the DVD into my player and checking it out, at long last.

The film revolves around the Johnny Depp voiced Victor Van Dort, who is about to marry the lovely Victoria Everglot, through an arrangement through their parents. However during the wedding rehearsal, Victor fluffs his lines and ends up setting his future mother-in-law on fire. So, with the wedding scheduled for the morning after, Victor heads into the woods to practice said lines so he doesn't mess up on the day. Once there he ends up falling into the 'land of the dead' where a corpse named Emily thinks that Victor's intentions are to marry her. But, Victor has immediately fallen for Victoria, and want's out of the 'land of the dead' to be with her. Emily, however has other plans.

I won't go on as it will spoil the plot of the movie, and it's best if you travel the path and discover it for yourself. As with all of Burton's movies, the director's pet animated project has attracted a superb cast, and a lot of them are indeed British. We have Joanna Lumley (from Absolutely Fabulous), Paul Whitehouse (from The Fast Show), Jane Horrocks (again from Ab Fab), Albert Finney (Erin Brockovich), Christopher Lee (the legend), Emily Watson, Tracy Ullman, Richard E. Grant as well as Depp and Helena Bonham Carter as the Corpse Bride. All are superb with the source material, and particular standouts are Mr. Depp (what a great English accent), Helena Bonham Carter, who gives a subtle warmth to the bride and Paul Whitehouse, who hams it up as Victor's father and Mayhew, who visits both worlds in the film.

On the downside, the story drags a little in places, particularly at the beginning of the movie, which may not keep the young ones glued to the screen. The action is also a little scary in places, and the film's PG certificate is well deserved. Parents may want to check this one out before letting younger children view. The film's dragging plot does speed up toward the end of the movie as the two world's merge, and the climax is a wonderful ending.

The standout feature if the movie, like 'NIGHTMARE', is the wonderful animation. It's so fluid, crisp and in places utterly breathtaking. It's so lifelike that you actually forget that it is age old stop motion, and not CGI. Yep, it's that good. Aardman, watch out.

Onto the extras. I'm glad that Warner Brothers have decided to give this movie more adult orientated bonus material rather than the kiddie targeted stuff that goes into the Harry Potter discs and various other releases.

We're treated to a bunch of short (non more longer than ten minutes) featurettes. They're all very well put together and great to watch, particularly if you're interested in animation of any kind. The one problem that I had with them is that I kept having to reach for the darn remote control to go on to the next one. Surely it would have been better to bunch them all together and give us a 30-40 behind the scenes? Anyway, as I said, all are worth a watch. "Inside the Two Worlds" features interviews with Burton and other members of the crew who talk about the contrasting two worlds in the movie, "Danny Elfman Interprets the Two Worlds" basically features Mr. Elfman talking about the music and his working relationship with Burton, , "The Animators: The Breath of Life" goes into the animation in more detail, "Tim Burton: Dark Vs. Light" is about the director and his visions of the film, "Voices from the Underworld" features footage of Burton and most of the main actors recording their lines, "Making Puppets Tick" is about the construction and design of the puppets, and "The Voices Behind the Voice" features split-screen a look at the actors recording their lines alongside the finished result in the movie. That last feature is possibly the best one on the disc in my own mind.

We're also given a theatrical trailer for the movie, as well as pre-production galleries and a pretty neat music only track featuring the wonderful world of the superb Danny Elfman.

The soundtrack is available in Dolby Digital 5.1 and the picture is 1.85:1 windscreen. The caller in this movie was superb, particularly the 'land of the dead' scenes. A huge contrast to the dull greys in the 'real world' scenes.

All in all CORPSE BRIDE is a movie with a unique plot, told with some stunning animation and performances. I wouldn't put it up there in enjoyment terms as A NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, but it was enjoyable.

GRADE: C

Paul Heath