The Corpse Bride

I went to the matinee today and saw Tim Burton's, The Corpse Bride. I don't think I have seen one of his movies with the weird animation thing he does. So, I was rather excited. (I must add, my friends and I did not intend to see this movie originally. We had wanted to see The Constant Gardner, starring Ralph Fiennes. But, alas, they had pulled it today from showing. So, we settled for this one.)

I was not disappointed. The movie played out much more like a musical than your average drama or comedy. I would guess that there were 4 or 5 musical numbers in the movie, plus beautiful music the whole way through. I enjoyed most of the singing by the animated characters, but there were a few dance numbers that just seemed random and irrelevant.

The movie was beautifully written and edited. It is filled with lots of witty humor. Burton manages to draw you into the characters and make the audience feel their emotions.

I believe I also found references to other movies throughout this movie. For example, Victoria's mother looked much like the wicked stepmother in Cinderella. The old oak tree whereby Victor found the corpse bride looked similar to the old oak tree in Sleepy Hollow, another Johnny Depp film (who served as the voice of Victor in this film). And, when the dead drank their ale downstairs, or in the underworld, it looked very similar to the way the pirates drank their ale in Pirates of the Carribean (once again, a Johnny Depp film).

Overall, I enjoyed the movie. Good, clean fun. Come to think of it, I don't remember a single cuss word. For what it's worth, it gets my recommendation.