Review of Corpse Bride (2005) by Markb. — 09 Oct 2005

The "HARRYHAUSEN" logo on the grand piano that nervous would-be bridegroom Victor (voiced by Johnny Depp) practices on may pay tribute to stop-motion animation pioneer Ray Harryhausen, but Tim Burton's lightly macabre animated romance really owes a lot more to the 1930s cartoons of Ub Iwerks and, like his earlier effort The Nightmare Before Christmas, to those 1960s Rankin-Bass Christmas TV specials.

..as well as the one-dimensional cartoons and illustrations of Charles Addams, Ronald Searle and Arnold Roth. Burton's reputation for making the classic horror material and settings he obviously loves palatable for family audiences may have finally caught up with him here; Corpse Bride is unquestionably handsome and heartfelt--and I really liked Burton's depiction of BOTH of Victor's potential wives, Victoria (Emily watson) and Emily (Helena Bonham Carter) as sympathetic, appealing and attractive characters (even the dead one)--but the movie is STILL a frustrating, tantalizing near-miss.

Danny Elfman's songs aren't bad, and add to the atmosphere, but they seem tossed off and aren't nearly as long as they need to be; the instant one of the musical numbers begins to envelop the audience, it's over.

Ironically, that's the opposite problem of the rest of the movie; even at only 78 minutes, it's frequently as draggy and slow-moving as a George A. Romero walking zombie. Most problematic of all is that despite the morbid subject matter and vivid visuals, the humor is nowhere near as bracingly edgy or "sick" as you'd expect; it's tempting to blame the PG rating, but The Nightmare Before Christmas was a perfect entertainment of its kind that wasn't at all hampered by it.

I don't have the heart (or spleen or intestines) to try to talk anyone out of seeing this, and I wish I could get my very own Scraps the Dog at a McDonald's or Burger King mear me, but in all honesty, this movie's current rival, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, has all its virtues plus a much faster pace and a far more successful humor-horror blend that leaves Corpse Bride.

..well, buried.