Alex will be upset at me for reviewing this, but I feel compelled.

We went to see Corpse Bride a few weeks ago, forgoing a trip to the pumpkin patch. While I enjoyed the movie, I missed the pumpkin patch.

Corpse Bride is Tim Burton's follow up to Nightmare Before Christmas, the now much-celebrated stop-time animation movie that was released in 1993. Alex doesn't think they should be compared but I can't help it. The animation  technique and morbid story line demand it. Tim Burton's own web site for the movie says Corpse Bride carries on the "dark, romantic tradition of Edward Scissorhands and The Nightmare Before Christmas," so I have to compare.

Corpse Bride is set in a 19th century European village following the story of Victor (Johnny Depp), a young man who is whisked away to the underworld and wed to the Corpse Bride (Helena Bonham-Carter) while  his real bride, Victoria (Emily Watson), waits in the land of the living. Victor finds the land of the dead colorful (literally) where his Victorian world is drab (literally). But he misses his true love and wants to return to her.

The plot is very predictable, but that's ok. It's a fairy tale and sometimes they are predictable. The animation is wonderful, stunning even. Burton is a genius, no doubt about it. My problem is with the songs. Instead of advancing the plot, they interfere with it. After the beginning "wish" song, the song that tells what everyone wants to happen and basically lays out the plot, every song was there only to be a song in a children's animated movie. It hurts me to say this, since I also really like Danny Elfman, who composed the score for Corpse Bride, Nightmare Before Christmas, and many other Burton movies, back to his days as the head man of Oingo Boingo, but I did not like the songs in this movie. I did like the music when it was the background to the movie, and I don't think it's Elfman's fault the songs didn't work. I just don't think this movie had enough plot to make the songs necessary.

Ok. That said, Alex and Mason loved it. Mason laughed the whole movie and Alex couldn't stop talking about it. She was upset with me that I didn't like it as much as she and Mason did. I'd say overall it's a good family movie, even for 3 or 4 year-olds. There is nothing really scary in this movie. All the kids seeing the movie when we saw it seemed to really enjoy it. And the animation is truly amazing.

Victoria's Rating:        with reservations

Alexandria's and Mason's Rating:         Very enthusiastically!        

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