[.ca] Tim Burton's Corpse Bride

From Amazon.com:
Who else but Tim Burton could make Corpse Bride, a necrophiliac's delight that's fun for the whole family? Returning to the richly imaginative realm of stop-motion animation (after previous successes with The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach), Burton, with codirector Mike Johnson, invites us to visit the dour, ashen, and drearily Victorian mansions of the living, where young Victor Van Dort (voiced by Johnny Depp) is bequeathed to wed the lovely Victoria (Emily Watson). But the wedding rehearsal goes sour and, in the kind of Goth-eerie forest that only exists in Burton-land, Victor suddenly finds himself accidentally married to the Corpse Bride (Helena Bonham Carter), a blue-tinted, half-skeletal beauty (how pleasantly full-bosomed she remains!) with a loquacious maggot installed behind one prone-to-popping eyeball. This being a Burton creation, the underworld of the dead is a lively and colorful place indeed, and Danny Elfman's songs and score make it even livelier, presenting Victor with quite a dilemma: Should he return above-ground to Victoria, or remain devoted to his corpse bride? At a brisk 76 minutes, Burton's graveyard whimsy (loosely based on a 19th century Russian folktale) never wears out its welcome, and the voice casting (which includes Tracey Ullman and Albert Finney) is superbly matched the film's gloriously amusing character design, guaranteed to yield a wealth of gruesome toys and action figures for many Halloweens to come. --Jeff Shannon

pretty well done stop motion animation film from Tim Burton:
for the most par,i liked this stop motion animation film,directed and produced by Tim Burton.he also produced The Nightmare Before Chtistmas and James and the Giant peach.anyway,back to Corpse Bride.i thought it was very stylish and nice to look at.i liked the mix of oddball characters with their quirks.i found the movie comical at times,and also very haunting. the story was interesting and engaging,in my opinion.i really liked the voices for the characters.they really went well together.the filmmakers really picked the right actors for this movie.anyway.what i didn't like as much were the musical numbers.i felt they were overdone and a bit repetitive.the also went on a bit too long.and i thought they also stopped the flow and momentum of the film.there were also a few moments were i thought the film dragged a bit.otherwise,though, enjoyed it.i wouldn't recommend this movie for any one under the age of ten,as it does have some disturbing and frightening themes.for me,Corpse Bride is a 4/5

Magical story telling!:
Just when I tought Tim Burton could not get any better... Well The corpse bride is just funny & absolutely silly! You will miss out if you do not see this great cartoon between the dead & the living!

Give it a Chance:
Tim Burtons "Corpse Bride" I LOVE Tim Burton flicks. I've seen each and every one of his films time and time again. However, each and every time, I've been surprised with his movies. They have always been more than I expected. They entrance, they amaze and "Tim Burton's Corpse Bride" is no exception. Based on a European folk tale, "Corpse Bride" is the story of Victor. Living in a small Victorian town in the 1800's, he is engaged to be married to a woman named Victoria whom he has never met. When he does meet Victoria, however, he realizes how much he DOES want to be married to her, that love at first sight does exist. There is only one problem: The Corpse Bride. After fumbling with the vows during the wedding rehearsal, Victor runs to the forest and practices his vows until he gets them right; and places the ring on the outstretched hand of the Corpse Bride. She takes his practice vows for the real thing and takes Victor down to the Underworld. Emily loves Victor, the man who can love her even in death. But what will happen when Victor tries to get back to the woman he loves in the world of the living? Only death will tell.... I wasn't sure what I was expecting when I went to see "Corpse Bride" the first time. Now, I made a fatal mistake here: I went expecting the film to be like a non-musical version of one of my all time favorite Tim Burton flicks "The Nightmare Before Christmas". How wrong I was. For, while the film WAS done in stop animation, "Corpse Bride" was NOTHING like it's predecessor. I judged the film by what I saw in the previews AND I formed preconceived expectations of what I would be seeing. That's a big Tim Burton No No. I was astonished, therefore, within the first five minutes of the film to realize that it WAS in fact a musical. It didn't have nowhere near the number of songs and huge numbers that "Nightmare" had, but it WAS a musical. If there's anything I've learnt with Tim Burton films it's this: Don't go to the theatre with preconceived notions; they will be blown into smithereens. "Corpse Bride" shattered all of them for me. The film, while certainly not as lively as "Nightmare" was beautiful, haunting, gorgeous, lyrical, and heartbreaking. At first, I was really put off by "Corpse Bride". It wasn't what I thought it was going to be, and I was a little pissed off. Even as I left the theatre, I was still ticked at the non-splashy ending. It was only after I thought about the film for a good week that I realized that there was nothing bad about it. "Corpse Bride" may have been told in stop motion animation, but it had a deeper message than "Nightmare". It was a beautiful, lyrical film and it was only my own preconceived expectations that were getting in the way of the films enjoyment. I can't express in words how much this film moved me, after I got my expectations out of the way. I went to see the film a second time, just to give it a fair shot. I am SO glad I did. I was blown away by how beautiful the movie was and left the theatre thinking of "Corpse Bride" again; this time in an excellent light. More profound than "A Nightmare Before Christmas", "Corpse Bride" really IS art in motion. "Tim Burton's Corpse Bride" continues to haunt me. I may even go see it for a third time. It's the perfect movie for Halloween and makes even death look beautiful. Go see this while it's still in theatres. You won't be sorry.

Ghoulfriend:
Tim Burton has become reknowned for his movies about the weird, the macabre, and the very funny. And his new stop-animated masterpiece "Corpse Bride," a host of bizarre characters and a bittersweet love triangle, has all three qualities. This is an "underground" film in the best sense of the word. It gives you the sort of feeling that really expert haunted houses do -- you're enjoying the ghouls and skeletons too much to care who it's aimed at. Victor (Johnny Depp) is at the rehearsal for his arranged wedding, when he forgets his vows. Not a good omen. He runs out and rehearses it by himself, and ends up slipping the ring on the finger of a dead girl, Emily (Helena Bonham Carter). But Emily, who died tragically, falls in love with Victor and considers herself married to him. Now Victor is trapped in the underworld, which is a surprisingly cheery, upbeat place when you consider everyone is dead. He tries to find his way back to the world of the living, but soon finds himself more drawn to the tragic Emily. Now he must make the ultimate choice: Will he return (for as long as he lives) to his arranged bride, or stay in the underworld with the Corpse Bride? You'd think a movie about dead people would be depressing. At the very least, dark. But surprisingly "Corpse Bride" is neither -- instead, Burton has crafted a sweet, enchanting little love story where one of the people happens to be dead, and which is set in the underworld. There's nothing frightening about it. If anything, it's enchanting. Is the plot original? Heck no -- boil it down, and you have a boy-meets-girl story. But it's the delivery that's charming, from the funny dialogue ("Play dead!") to the colorful inhabitants of the underworld (like the pirate, or the intimidating minister). The macabre humour and song-and-dance numbers add to the charm of this world, where the dead are more alive than the living. And the voice actors seal the deal; what could have been merely funny becomes touching, in their hands.Johnny Depp brings the timid, tremulous Victor to life, and makes his dilemma believable, while Carter makes us look past protruding bones and bluish skin, to the sweet romantic Emily was. The only problem is that moronic maggot -- it's an annoying distraction. Coming up with a suitable follow-up for cult classic "Nightmare Before Christmas" couldn't have been easy. But Burton does so in rare style, creating a story both hilarious and bittersweet. Enchanting.

Fantastic Depp and Burton Movie -- naturally:
Ahh, another of my Depp faves...I watched this a quite a few months back, but the magic is not lost. Yes, all Depp movies cast a spell on me, but I really mean what i say. Johnny Depp brilliantly provides his voice for the shy, timid and not-so-talkative Victor, who is soon to marry the beautiful Victoria (Emily Watson). However, poor Victor messes up his vows during rehearsal and ends up feeling terrible. In an eerie wood- full of thin, creepy trees -Victor tries to comfort himself. Determined to get his vows of love right, he goes over them alone and puts the ring on a twig for complete effect. Now, I ask you, was it the poor guy's fault the twig turned out to be a dead girl's finger?? And yes, that's where the story develops since this 'corpse bride' is taking this 'marriage' very seriously. I don't blame her either since he's got Johnny Depp's voice. Just kidding. The movie is then all about what Victor will do with the choice he is faced with -- Does he go back to Victoria and ignore his 'corpse bride'? OR Does he stay with his loving dead wife who comes with a free maggot in her eye? The ending is very sweet, although sad. Its weird how the movie makes you feel so sorry for the Corpse Bride and at the same time want you to see Victor and Victoria together. The movie is a classic Tim Burton with quite a lively world full of dead and cutely formed characters. It is a classic Johnny Depp even though all you get from him is his voice -- he's all magic anyway. Its a wonderful movie for emotional and sensitive teens rather than little frolicky preschoolers, that's for sure!