Corpse Bride (PG-13)
Mike:
Scott:
Scott: Tonight we are reviewing Tim Burton's
Corpse Bride, a stop motion animation movie about a groom to be who goes dancing in the woods and ends up married to a corpse. Your thoughts?
Mike: I thought this movie was visually amazing! Having said that, I'm not sure what audience this movie was made for. At times it seems like a kids movie and at other times it is definitely too gross or adult for kids.
Scott: I thought the stop motion was incredible, I thought the movie was computer animated in parts because it looked so smooth. As for audience, some kids will be upset by some of the scenes. This should be PG-7 or 8.
Mike: I enjoyed the movie, but I kept watching it wondering what my 6 and 9 year old nephews would think and I'm not sure if they would like it.
Scott: I think my niece would like it, she is 10.
Mike: I think all the kids who enjoyed A Nightmare Before Christmas are going to want to see it, but I don't know if they are going to like this one.
Scott: Those kids are a bit older now, that was made back in 1993.
Mike: Yeah, but I know friend's 3 and 4 year olds who have just seen it for the first time and love it.
Scott: The movie revolves around a Corpse Bride, a woman who was killed by her groom the night they eloped. Most of the 'location' is in the underworld where most characters died by violent deaths. So there are swords sticking out of bodies, holes in bodies, and several skeletons.
Mike: Right, some gruesome things are funny, like dancing skeletons and eyeballs falling out. I don't know about the guy who splits in half and shows all of his guts, or the talk of murder and poisoning.
Scott: It is not meant to be scary, but to younger children it can be that way.
Mike: Obviously it is called the CORPSE Bride, but still I'm not sure if families are going to go in knowing what to expect, so be warned. One thing that drove me nuts was all the singing.
Scott: That didn't have to be there and often the singing was so loud and dancing so busy that you kind of lost track of what was going on in the scene.
Mike: I know there were songs in Nightmare, but I could have lived without it in this movie.
Scott: I did enjoy some of the songs though. A few of the more of the raucous ones I could have done without. But I did like the slower songs. Johnny Depp played Victor Van Dort, and I couldn't really tell it was him from the voice. The character looked surprisingly like him, but the voice was alien.
Mike: It was his fake British accent that threw you off. Tim Burton uses many of his "usual suspects" for the voice work. You mentioned Depp, but we also get, Helena Bonham Carter (Corpse Bride), Albert Finney (Finnis Everglot), Christopher Lee (Pastor Galswells), Michael Gough (Elder Gutnecht), Deep Roy (General Bonesapart) and even Danny Elfman (Bonejangles)...
Scott: You forgot Ms. Voice, Tracey Ullman, who voiced Nell Van Dort and Hildegarde.
Mike: It wouldn't be a Tim Burton film without an Elfman score.
Scott: Checking out Danny Elfman's bio, I see that he was in Oingo Boingo, another of the 'They came from the 80's' bands.
Mike: He has definitely benefited more from his pairing with Burton than he ever thought about during Oingo Boingo. Helena is in all Burton's movies lately, since they live together. Finney was in Big Fish. Lee and Deep Roy were just in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Another good voice was Emily Watson as Victoria, whom along with Ulman, is not a Burton regular.
Scott: Watson had a very nice voice, smooth
Mike: I am very impressed with Watson as an actress. I liked her in Gosford Park and just recently in The Life and Death of Peter Sellers. I'm not as impressed with Bonham Carter, but I guess as long as she stays together with Burton, there should be no shortage of work for her.
Scott: I liked her in Big Fish.
Mike:I also want to note that I like the combination of Burton and Depp, who have worked together since Edward Scissorhands. I think their peak was Ed Wood. It's interesting that Johnny Depp is famous for being a pretty boy, but he seems to gravitate to roles that are very grungy or unglamorous.
Scott: I don't know that he is famous for being a pretty boy. Back in 21 Jump Street he rejected the Teen Idol crown and left that to his lesser talented costars.
Mike: I mean Johnny Depp the person, not the actor. Anyone who is voted sexiest man by People magazine is a "pretty boy". Before I forget, there are a number of 'in' jokes in the movie. Some are obvious like the Gone with the Wind reference. One I especially liked is that Victor plays a Harryhausen piano. Ray Harryhausen is the master of stop motion animation, with films like The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad and Clash of the Titans. So Scott, what did you think?
Scott: I think the movie has a lot to offer a variety of people; you just have to know what you are getting yourself into. It's not really for little children, but for older children. Adults will like it too. The voices went well with the characters and you easily got caught up in the movie. The score was good as well, creepy music when needed and fun when the scenes called for it. I liked it. It was entertaining from the beginning and as I said before the animation was computer quality. I give it a 5 for stop motion animation and a 3.5 overall. See it in the theatre and take you 7+ y/o with you.
Mike: I liked it as well. I found it very entertaining and I give it a 4 for animated film and a 3 overall. Go to the theater and enjoy this "Dead Man's Party".
