By captivating the viewer’s senses from beginning to end, The Corpse Bride is a fantastic delight for any viewer.
As with The Nightmare Before Christmas, Burton revives his spectacular use of stop-motion animation, a refreshing departure from the computer-animated cartoons that abound today.
The plot is simple. Two families plan to wed their son and daughter under the pretenses that the other family will elevate them monetarily and socially. However, while walking one night, the son, Victor, carelessly slips the ring onto a branch in the woods which turns out to be the hand of a buried bride. She mistakes this for a pledge and Victor then finds himself in a dire situation.
Having just finished working with Burton on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Johnny Depp once again lends his talent to this film. Burton and Depp seem to be cut from the same fabric because they have seemingly perfect chemistry and Depp’s penchant for the macabre fits the bill for Burton’s characters.
Although Burton is not credited with writing the screenplay for this movie, typical types of characters are portrayed. Like Edward in Edward Scissorhands, some of the characters in this movie evoke sympathy from the viewer, regardless of their unconventional appearance.
For the fan of Tim Burton, the movie offers more than one could wish for. For the skeptic of Tim Burton, it leaves little not to enjoy. Like his other movies such as The Nightmare Before Christmas and Edward Scissorhands, it’s consistently eerie and gothic, yet endearing.