People are always asking me my opinion about movies. Seriously, any time I watch a movie people ask me, “How was is it?” This has led me to believe that I am widely regarded as an artistic sage whose opinion is valued in all the right circles. Therefore, I have decided to write up reviews on my blog for whatever movie I happen to have seen recently. Besides, its not like its that hard. All you have to do is write your personal opinions, however biased or baseless, and then assign the film a letter grade. Plus, Eric Snyder makes it look like a lot of fun and so I thought I’d give it a try. Don’t expect me to be anywhere near as clever as that guy, though. It ain’t gonna happen. Anyway, here goes:
The Corpse Bride
Directed by Tim Burton & Mike Johnson
Rated PG
A group of friends were going to this one, so they invited me. I readily accepted their invitation, not only because they are fun, interesting people, but because I was interested in seeing this movie. Tim Burton films are always a bit of a departure from the mainstream style, which is nice every now and then. He has also produced some really brilliant stuff. Furthermore, I’m a big fan of The Nightmare Before Christmas – so all and all I had really high hopes for Corpse Bride.
Let me just say first of all that I love the medium of stop-motion animation (or clay-mation or whatever you want to call it). Sure, its not as flashy or versatile as CGI, but its certainly come a long way just in my lifetime. Plus it has qualities the best computer graphics will never totally replicate: tangiblity, depth, three-dimensionality. It takes a long long time to do, so kudos to those with the patience and skill to pull off complicated shots such as those featured in this movie.
The style here is pure Burton, from the dour black and white and gray of the human world to the grotesque blues and violets and greens of the underground city of the dead. Many of the characters sported delightfully exaggerated features, huge hair, gigantic chins, etc. The result was a world that was visually quite engaging. The concept of the story is also interesting: a nervous young man forced into an arranged marriage with a girl he has never met practices his vows in the woods, unwittingly marrying himself to a dead woman buried beneath his feet. There’s certainly a lot of fun to be had with that idea, but honestly I felt it wasn’t developed as well as it could have been. Plot progression happened rapidly and almost disjointedly, leaving little room for basic character development which would have made me care about the characters a lot more than I ended up doing. The ending scenes of the movie were jarringly anti-climatic, and when the credits rolled, we looked each other and said, “Oh… I guess that was the end,” which is never a good sign.
I also felt that the movie fell into the same trap that has plagued a lot of the recent animated films. They created a funny character who they knew was funny, and then milked every ounce of humour they could from that character, sometimes in scenes that seemed added on just for laughs but are actually irrelevant. There were some geniunely funny bits in this movie, but then some of the more goofy characters (i.e., the maggot who lives in the corpse bride’s head) began to get more and more screen time just for gags. Its been happening a lot lately in this kind of movie, though I do feel that Pixar has for the most part avoided that temptation. And to its credit, Corpse Bride didn't do it as badly as it certainly could have.
Still, there was a lot to like about Corpse Bride, if for nothing but its sheer zaniness. Several parts of the movie made me turn to my companions in delighted shock. One final negative note, though: I had hoped that the musical score would rival some of Danny Elfman’s previous work, but, in my opinion, though functional for the mood of the piece, it wasn’t nearly as strong as, say, The Nightmare Before Christmas. I guess that was really my problem when watching this movie. I kept comparing it to Nightmare and finding it lacking, instead of giving the movie a chance on its own terms. That may not just be my fault, though, as Tim Burton seemed to be going for the same style and feel in many respects. I’m sure I’m not the only one who made the connection.
In conclusion, delightful animation, wacky and fun design, with characters who didn’t get the development they deserved, all wrapped up in a plot that, while really interesting, left me unsatisfied.
Final Grade: B-
The Corpse Bride
Directed by Tim Burton & Mike Johnson
Rated PG
A group of friends were going to this one, so they invited me. I readily accepted their invitation, not only because they are fun, interesting people, but because I was interested in seeing this movie. Tim Burton films are always a bit of a departure from the mainstream style, which is nice every now and then. He has also produced some really brilliant stuff. Furthermore, I’m a big fan of The Nightmare Before Christmas – so all and all I had really high hopes for Corpse Bride.
Let me just say first of all that I love the medium of stop-motion animation (or clay-mation or whatever you want to call it). Sure, its not as flashy or versatile as CGI, but its certainly come a long way just in my lifetime. Plus it has qualities the best computer graphics will never totally replicate: tangiblity, depth, three-dimensionality. It takes a long long time to do, so kudos to those with the patience and skill to pull off complicated shots such as those featured in this movie.
The style here is pure Burton, from the dour black and white and gray of the human world to the grotesque blues and violets and greens of the underground city of the dead. Many of the characters sported delightfully exaggerated features, huge hair, gigantic chins, etc. The result was a world that was visually quite engaging. The concept of the story is also interesting: a nervous young man forced into an arranged marriage with a girl he has never met practices his vows in the woods, unwittingly marrying himself to a dead woman buried beneath his feet. There’s certainly a lot of fun to be had with that idea, but honestly I felt it wasn’t developed as well as it could have been. Plot progression happened rapidly and almost disjointedly, leaving little room for basic character development which would have made me care about the characters a lot more than I ended up doing. The ending scenes of the movie were jarringly anti-climatic, and when the credits rolled, we looked each other and said, “Oh… I guess that was the end,” which is never a good sign.
I also felt that the movie fell into the same trap that has plagued a lot of the recent animated films. They created a funny character who they knew was funny, and then milked every ounce of humour they could from that character, sometimes in scenes that seemed added on just for laughs but are actually irrelevant. There were some geniunely funny bits in this movie, but then some of the more goofy characters (i.e., the maggot who lives in the corpse bride’s head) began to get more and more screen time just for gags. Its been happening a lot lately in this kind of movie, though I do feel that Pixar has for the most part avoided that temptation. And to its credit, Corpse Bride didn't do it as badly as it certainly could have.
Still, there was a lot to like about Corpse Bride, if for nothing but its sheer zaniness. Several parts of the movie made me turn to my companions in delighted shock. One final negative note, though: I had hoped that the musical score would rival some of Danny Elfman’s previous work, but, in my opinion, though functional for the mood of the piece, it wasn’t nearly as strong as, say, The Nightmare Before Christmas. I guess that was really my problem when watching this movie. I kept comparing it to Nightmare and finding it lacking, instead of giving the movie a chance on its own terms. That may not just be my fault, though, as Tim Burton seemed to be going for the same style and feel in many respects. I’m sure I’m not the only one who made the connection.
In conclusion, delightful animation, wacky and fun design, with characters who didn’t get the development they deserved, all wrapped up in a plot that, while really interesting, left me unsatisfied.
Final Grade: B-
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