Tim Burton's Corpse Bride

Over a decade after creating his monster hit The Nightmare Before Christmas, Tim Burton returned to the art of stop-motion animation with Corpse Bride.  As his usual trademark goes, the film is dark and morbid, but far less grotesque as Nightmare was and is even a bit more heartwarming.  I would go as far as to say the movie is whimsical.  The strength of the movie lies in Burton’s genius as a visual artist.  He takes the saturnine and twists it into the most intriguing and lovely images ever.  He managed to make a corpse the most beautiful character in the movie, despite her decayed skin and rotted limbs.  I also appreciate his ingenuity in the separation of the world of the living and the land of the dead, making the living drab, uptight, and bleak, and the dead are colorful, fun, and “full of life”.  With an interesting storyline and characters, I only find two drawbacks with the movie, one being the songs.  None are truly good or worth remembering.  Even when the song is introducing the situation or the characters, it still feels like it’s almost being a hindrance to what you really want; the action.  It probably has to do more with the melodies; they’re not catchy.  Ugh, especially the song the maggot and the black widow spider, “Tears to Shed”.  I just keep thinking “Shut up, shut up, shut up!”  They're the two most pointless characters who are probably the worst singers the worst song to sing.  And what’s up with that maggot anyways!  Being a parody of Peter Lorre.  Really?  Who the heck even knows who Peter Lorre is nowadays?!  I only know who he is from parodies and references in Looney Tunes.  Anyways, clearly those two characters are the other drawback.  The three main characters (Victor, Victoria, and the Corpse Bride) are all likeable characters and you can’t help but root for all of them.  Victor’s bumblings and nervousness adds to his lovability, the softness and meekness of Victoria makes her so charming, and as for the Corpse Bride (or Emily, as we find out near the end of the movie), well your heart just goes out to her.  She’s a tragic hero with an open, loving heart and you end up joining her in her sorrow and wish her for her happy ending.  Talk about endings, the end of the movie is bitter sweet and such a stunning image.  Though the Corpse Bride never fulfills her dream of getting married, she accepts her reality and is ready to move on.  After throwing the flowers, she gazes at the moonlight and precipitates into butterflies and a flourish of light.  It’s so poetic and touching. 

The movie is nothing like The Nightmare Before Christmas, and I wouldn’t ever want it to be.  It’s its own special story that stands strong and shouldn’t be compared to its fore-runner. 

For more information on this movie, click on the link below:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0121164/