If ever a movie was made that specifically targeted teenaged goth chicks, Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride (Widescreen Edition) is that movie. The art-direction is in the same vein as most everything Burton’s ever been involved with, which specifically means story-book creepy and satirical. The story is a bit more adult (presumably) than his other animated-feature, The Nightmare Before Christmas (Special Edition), revolving instead around a love-story.
Basically, Victor Van Dort (Johnny Depp) is the son of nouveau riche fish-merchants who are desperate for the legitimacy that some link with old-money would bring. His parents decide to marry him off to some poverty-stricken aristocrats who are on the verge of losing their ancestral home and declaring bankruptcy. Everybody thusly wins, except possibly Victor and his bride-to-be, Victoria, voiced by Emily Watson.
Meeting each other the day before the wedding is to occur, they decide they like each other well enough, so they’re alright with the wedding. The only problem is that Victor seems incapable of remembering his vows. Rehearsal declared a disaster, he heads off into the woods to practice them, and inadvertently weds himself to a dead chick known affectionately as the titular Corpse Bride.
He’s of course not very happy with this, as he’d just gotten used to the idea of marrying a living girl, so he tries to get out of it, and the story ensues. There’s the typical cockup-after-cockup, a couple of delightful song-and-dance routines, and it’s basically the goth-chick’s romantic follow-up to The Nightmare Before Christmas. From the skeletons to the poison, from the maggot who lives in the Corpse Bride’s eye-socket and offers her words of wisdom to the evil and powerless pastor, every thematic element seems calculated to make black-garbed girls squeal with delight.
Does it appeal to anyone else though? The answer is yes, with qualifications. It’s kinda silly. You expect this from animation, mostly, in America. So that’s not much of an issue, but I would say that Nightmare had a more re-fined sense of humor, and a wittier presence, than this one does. But The Corpse Bride still has a lot of humor to it, and some interesting conceits (the living world is greyscale; the land of the dead is color-filled! what a statement!). Danny Elfman did the score, so you know it’s good musically, and the cast is full of Burton’s favorites, including the aforementioned two, his wife (the Bride), Christopher Lee, and Deep Roy, as well as Tracey Ullman. They work well together, and the writing is good. I must confess that it fell flat, for me, but my room-mate liked it a lot, and proclaimed it much better than Nightmare. Perhaps the reason for this is that he was drinking and I was sober; perhaps the reason for this is that he’s a better judge of Burton’s work than I am.
Childish and silly, but still fun, I recommend this to the ‘children of the night’ and adults who appreciate dark humor but also like puppy-dogs and kittens and happy-endings. Especially puppy-dogs, because the one in this movie was totally my favorite character. The Legend of Zorro, also coming out this week, is a superior film with a completely different sensibility. Both are flawed, and will appeal only to people prepared to forgive them their faults, and they’re both mainly for the younger set, as well. Hollywood does not like you, adults.