Review: "Corpse Bride"

I just got Tim Burton's Corpse Bride on DVD, so I thought I'd throw out a quick review of it. I'll start by stating I'm a big fan of almost all of Tim Burton's work (except for "Mars Attacks!" which I really didn't care for, for some reason), so it was no surprise that I liked this movie a lot.

The story deals with shy groom Victor Van Dort who accidentally marries a dead woman while practicing his wedding vows. It gets into a love triangle of sorts, where he tries to make it back to the living and lovely Victoria, but at the same time is sucked into the lively land of the dead and his corpse bride. The story remains pretty simple; there is a murder 'mystery' (if you can call it that) that is pretty obvious from the start, and works well enough as is. There is also some plot around Victor and Victoria's parents and their social ambitions.

The stop motion animation and visuals are stunning. The obvious comparison in style is to The Nightmare Before Christmas, with a nice balance of morbidity and vibrancy. I really like the way Burton plays with light and dark (not just visually) to show that what we traditionally think of as creepy and gruesome is maybe not that bad after all. The wonderful contrast in this movie is that the land of the living is bleak and dreary, with muted color palette and muted behaviors, while the land of the dead is colorful and lively, with much more cheer and freedom.

The music is also wonderful, perhaps not as memorable as "Nightmare", but it is still excellent work by Danny Elfman. The instrumentals are well done, and the land of the dead has a very jazzy feel.

I really enjoyed the movie; if you are a Tim Burton fan, you'll love it. If you like sweet, simple romance comedies, you'll like this movie. Or if you want a movie that is different than the mainstream, give "Corpse Bride" a try.