In a nutshell: This is Tim Burton's third attempt at stop-motion animation after The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) and James & the Giant Peach (1996). As with all other Tim Burton films, the exciting and imaginative visuals makes the ticket price worth every cent; Everything else is secondary.3 reasons to watch this film:
i) The visuals are to die-for! Seriously, if I didn't know any better, I would have thought that the film's characters were computer animated and not just some two-feet tall stainless steel puppets. Thus, the nuances of expression they were capable of were quite remarkable...
ii) Johnny Depp's voice-over work is nothing short of magnificent. He added a boyish-whimsy and quirky touch to his bumbling, hapless groom character which I think no other actor could accomplish. At times, I even forgot that his onscreen character isn't actually human. LOL
iii) The cheesy and campy song & dance routines are like a tongue-in-cheek throwback to the Disney animated-musicals of the past. If you are not in the least tickled by a group of skeletons dancing to a jazzy number, then there is something definitely amiss with your sense of humour~!
3 reasons NOT to watch this film:
i) Despite the strong thematic elements and mesmerising visuals, Corpse Bride's storyline is really meant for the kids. Moreover, it isn't half as fun or hilarious as Finding Nemo was. So if you're expecting to have your funny bone titillated every other minute or so, then you'd be sorely disappointed.
ii) Running at a brisk 76-minutes, this film is much too short for my liking!
iii) After awhile, the musical sequences did seem kinda draggy. It's as if Tim Burton was just trying to prolong his ultra-skimpy storyline and hope we audiences wouldn't notice or something...
my ratings ---- 4.8/5 stars for visuals but 3.6/5 stars for story~!
