Review of Corpse Bride (2005) by Maymay A — 05 Nov 2011

Wow, Tim Burton has come a long way since that scene in "Beetlejuice", where they pulled their faces into monster mouths, and made this stop-motion environment surrounding live-action performers somehow look seamless. Oh, sorry, that's not Johnny Depp or Helena Bonham Carter. Those are cartoons that are just built a lot like them. Incredible, Burton can't even make a cartoon without having Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter actually "in" the movie, and even then, he still has to keep Bonham Carter from being as attractive as she could be, if her husband didn't make her look like, well, his own corpse bride. Well, I suppose that she's gotten use to it, or else she would try to fit in time for a spousal abuse support group somewhere in between the testicular cancer and the organic brain dementia support groups. Somewhere, there's a group of "Fight Club" fans laughing, and somewhere else, a group of the disgusting, putrid excuses for human beings who have not yet seen "Fight Club" find her less attractive, so I suppose, if anything, I'm not helping the cause. I guess I should just go ahead and jump into this review, and allow me to start out by saying that even if the film is a startingly short 77 minutes, there's no being too short to keep the law that no film is flawless from catching up.

Now, lately, I've been praising a lot of strengths as lively, even films about dead people, but the problem with this film is that there is too much life, meaning that there's too much life and humanity in many aspects of the film to fit in this animated environment. Now, I'm not asking for mediocrity, but there is a major distinction in the way you construct a live-action film and the way you construct an animated film. Yes, I know that sounds like a nitpick, but there is a tone of awkwardness as you see this animated environment behave in a down-to-eath fashion. This of course makes the film a little boring from time-to-time, and if you make a film about a cartoon version of Johnny Depp marrying a zombie boring, then you've messed up big time. Not to mention that the cartoony absurdities don't always fit into this human tone, leaving a deal of points in the film to stand as rather annoying, a problem exacerbated by some frantic editing at points. Okay, so most of my problems with the film border on nitpicks, but that doesn't make the film perfect. Still, I'd be lying if I didn't say that many of the film's mistakes are often drowned out by the strengths of the film, for although livliness is its greatest flaw, it is also its greatest strength, which isn't to say that it's the only one.

The reason why there's too much humanity in the animation is because the animation and voice acting are both so good by their own right, with the animation being so lush and slick, made more dazzling by vividly captivating lighting. This animated world is so beautiful and well-crafted, and watching every last bit of it interact is so wildly entertaining. Still, these are cartoons and they don't entirely mesh well with the extreme humanity in the voice acting. Still, that's nothing but a back-handed complement, because the reason why these performances are so solid is because of the humanity in them, with everyone being so charismatic, especially our leads, Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter, who each have such a distinctive, yet equally compelling atmosphere that really has you questioning who to root for. What further brings unneeded, but still wonderful life to the film is, Elfman's soundtrack, which is, of course, very outstanding and well-done, and the same can be said about the musical numbers, which are all so unique, elaborate and thoroughly enjoyable. Of course, what really keeps this film together is the writing, which may have it cliches and predictable events, but features many a snappy line, matched in prominence only by the very effective, very amusing humor that keep the film so snappy and clever. A film of this type and length - especially one with flaws like the ones found in here - would be quite forgettable in the hands of a lesser filmmaker, but Burton's vivid and unique vision makes it so much more.

In the end, its extreme humanity throws its tone out of balance, leaving a deal of moments to be slow when the film is not made somewhat annoying by its frantic storytelling, but through it all, the strong writing, compelling voice acting, fantastic soundtrack and magnificent animation, made more dazzling by many hauntingly vivid shots leave "Tim Burton's Corpse Bride" to rise above its faults and stand as a truly mesmerizing experience.

3/5 - Good.