The Corpse Bride

CREDITS:
Directed by: Tim Burton and Mike Johnson
Casts: Johnny Depp (Victor Van Dort)
Helena Bonham Carter (Emily, The Corpse Bride)
Emily Watson (Victoria Everglot)

When I first saw the trailer for this movie at the theater, my first reaction was complete apathy. I was a big fan of Tim Burton when I was younger but grew tired of his works later on as I've aged with his repititive prefference for certain motifs and visual quirks. It's nice for artists to have a sense of identity stamped in your work, however I feel that a signature should in no way overpower the work itself. That in my opinion is one of Mr. Burton's glaring weakness. I honestly thought at first glance that this was a sequel to Nightmare Before Christmas. That was not good, as afterall even when I realized that it really wasn't, after seeing the entirety of the trailer, whatever little interest I had due to curiosity had quickly faded away too. Unless you haven't seen any other Burton flicks, it feels old and a road already thread.

I would have completely lost any notion of the existence of this film had my sister not bought the DVD for me afew weeks ago. She just had assumed it was right up my alley, and I thank her and her thoughtfulness for that. Still my interest for that movie was nil at the time and I just stuff it in my pile of unwatched movies.

Then came my birthday and the kickass celebration I had this month. One big problem with me is my rollercoaster mood, if I'm too happy one day, it's a guarantee that I'll be somewhat depressed or guilty the next moment. So in that melancholic moment, I've decided to counter this by watching a DVD. It ended up being this movie. Now I'm not sure if it was just the great timing with my mood but I ended up really liking this movie. The plot is so basic and simple but the actual execution clicks. And as weird as it sounds, I really found the character Victoria cute. Reminds me of the standards of how a proper lady should be as told to me by my grandmother when I was a kid, heh. Also, I can't help but be reminded of Bettlejuice even if a little as I watched this, what with the "new arrival in the world of the dead" concept. The twist in the end can be easily recognized and deduced though, it was a bit reminiscent of Sleepy Hollow too though not as far out of the left field as it was. I guess this is still a standard Tim Burton flick then afterall. Ha ha!

Granted that this isn't some innovative masterpiece of cinema history, and it is chock full of the standard tropes that Burton likes to utilize, but it is a solid entertaining film. Something to be watched when not wearing your critical hat. Somthing I'd recommend just for fun.