Tim Burton's Corpse Bride: Review By Vamp

Alright, so when this finally hit DVD, I was eager to see it because it seemed to be as big as "The Nightmare Before Christmas" was, and since that was my all time favorite childhood movie, I definitely needed to check this out. That's when my Dad informed me that he'd just bought the DVD. So I watched it then, and absolutely loved it! It wasn't as good as "The Nightmare Before Christmas," but I can assure you that it IS an AWESOME movie. Still a kid's movie, but it's for everyone, that I can assure you as well. After it's DVD release, I watched it, like I said, but then I never bought it, or got around to seeing it again, and then a couple of days ago, I borrowed it from my Dad, and watched it again, and I was thrown into an excellent world of fun, thrills, and spooks, that only Tim Burton's mind could bring us! It's definitely an awesome movie. There are some that refuse to watch this because it's what they call "A rip-off of 'The Nightmare Before Christmas,'" which is complete and utter bull sh*t, seeing as how "The Corpse Bride" and "The Nightmare Before Christmas" have absolutely NOTHING in common, except the fact that they're filmed in the same style! It pisses me off to hear that, and I'll protest against it, until the end of time. It's one of my pet peeves about this movie, and I can't stand to hear it! LOL! I sound obsessive, but I'm trying to relay to you that "The Corpse Bride," is definitely NOT a rip off of "The Nightmare Before Christmas." Some people also call "The Corpse Bride" a sequel to "The Nightmare Before Christmas," and that's also completely untrue. "The Corpse Bride" is a movie that stands alone, and people comparing it with "The Nightmare Before Christmas" apparently know absolutely NOTHING about either film. I love "The Nightmare Before Christmas," and I love "The Corpse Bride," but they're most DEFINITELY separate films.

The directors of this movie are Tim Burton and Mike Johnson. Both of these directors definitely bring us a movie that has some incredible vision. Of course, it's a Tim Burton film, so most definitely it will be good. I'm a huge Tim Burton fan, and with this film, I was definitely not disappointed in the slightest! His vision, along with Mike Johnson's definitely make for an incredible movie, that, like "The Nightmare Before Christmas" was, will be an instant classic, and remembered for generations on. The writers of this movie are plenty, and include Tim Burton and Carlos Gangel who created the characters, and the screenplay writers include: John August, Caroline Thompson, and Pamela Pettler. All of these writers bring us very interesting and lovable characters, as well as bring us a story, that is most unlike anything we've ever seen, and it's one that everyone can definitely love. The directors and writers, are definitely aplenty, and definitely do an incredible and excellent job delivering us an incredible and excellent movie, that generations upon generations could love watching over and over again! Like "The Nightmare Before Christmas," I'll probably never tire of watching this movie, at all.

The visuals in this movie, as I've said, are really the only part of this movie that even closely resemble that of "The Nightmare Before Christmas," and even then, it's still different, since "The Corpse Bride" is newer, and the effect has been modified. There are many aspects of the visuals that look cool. My first thing I liked was how the town in which our main character lives looks so dreary, and dark, that's always something I like in a movie, and it really looks cool. The houses and people in the town match that forte as well. Then there's the Underworld and all of it's inhabitants, and they're all definitely cool to see. It's also all dark and dreary, and full of interesting people. Like the "Head Waitor" who is just a talking head being carried around by c*ckroaches. There's also the skeleton singers, and they're all awesome as well. Then of course, there's The Corpse Bride herself, and even though she's a corpse, she's very beautiful. Blue skin, wrappings, a big white wedding dress, the works. She's very, very pretty. The visuals of this movie are definitely worth a see.

The storyline of this movie is one that, like "The Nightmare Before Christmas," is incredibly original. It's always interesting to see Tim Burton's movies because they're all so intense, and visual, as well as usually original. I've yet to see a Tim Burton film that I didn't absolutely love. The storyline of this movie is definitely something that we haven't seen before, and have yet to see, for that matter. There's always something in these kind of movies that catches your eye, and this entire film does that job, and does it well, for that matter. Anyway, this storyline is one that is definitely worth watching. A man has been chosen to marry a woman that he's never met, but upon meeting this woman, he finds that he loves her with all of his heart. However, when the wedding rehearsal comes around, he has issues with his vows, and completely messes everything up. The parents of the woman are furious, and he runs away. However, he finally gets his vows right, and places his ring on a twig, but what he finds out is that this twig, is not a twig after all, but a bony finger. He brings the Corpse Bride back to life, and is thrust into the land of the undead, now married to this corpse bride. This story, as I've said, is so original, and it definitely catches your attention, and brings you into it so well. Your attention is caught pretty much right away, and you absolutely cannot get enough of it. It's so funny, and at the same time sad, and at the same time just all-out cool. Definitely a great storyline.

The lead character of this story, named Victor Von Dort, is voiced by my all time favorite actor, Johnny Depp. Victor Von Dort is being forced by his parents to marry a woman, named Victoria Everglot, whom he has never met before in his life, and he is not happy. However, on his way to the wedding rehearsal, he finally meets her, and falls instantly in love with her. This makes him incredibly eager for the wedding, and he is no longer mad about it. However, at the rehearsal he screws up his vows big time, and it ultimately results in him lighting Victoria's mother's dress on fire. So he runs away, into the woods, ranting about how dumb he can be, and at the same time trying to get his wedding vows perfect. When he finally realizes something, he nails the vows so perfectly, and places his ring onto what he thinks is a twig of a tree coming out of the ground, but this twig turns out to be the bony finger of a long dead woman. This woman, he comes to know as Emily, The Corpse Bride. Emily's past has caused her to become his bride, and now he must escape the reaches of the Underworld. However, Emily gives him one of his greatest gifts, and that is his long dead dog, Scraps, still alive, but only in the Underworld. However, Emily will not let him leave because she loves him, and he comes to realize that he is beginning to love her, too. Johnny Depp produces an amazing voice for this character, and matches the character's personality and actions incredibly well, making this character all the more convincing and believable. He was definitely a great casting choice for the voice of Victor Von Dort.

Helena Bonham Carter, one of my all time favorite actresses, gives her voice to Emily, The Corpse Bride. Emily's past is one of great and utter disappointment. When Emily was alive she met a man, and fell absolutely in love with her, but her parents would not allow her to marry this man. She was also of rich descent. They decided to run away from both of their homes, and elope. Emily was to meet him there with her dowry, a small fortune, and some of the family jewels, and wearing her Mother's wedding dress. However, when she arrived there at the appointed spot in the woods, her lover did not show, and she was left their waiting, with her fortune. Then, after about half an hour (I think that that was the time said in the movie), her lover arrived, but not as she had thought. He showed up, and murdered her, stealing her fortune and dowry, and leaving her there in the woods, dead. Now, Emily has vowed that she would wait in that bed of Earth, until someone returned to ask for her hand in marriage. That was when the unsuspecting Victor Von Dort showed up, said his vows with great vigor, and placed a ring on her finger. So now, she comes alive, and drags Victor into the Underworld, where they are now married. She drags him along everywhere, and has him meet everyone, and when Victor suggests that she meet his family, they go to Elder Gutknecht, to help them return. In the upper world, Emily finds out that Victor only wanted to go up so he could go see some other woman, and she drags him back down to the Underworld, where they get into a fight, and she becomes sad. She now thinks that he doesn't love her, or even care for her at all. However, who could forget the maggot that lodges himself in her eyeball? He's there, and he tries to make her feel better, cracking jokes throughout the entire movie. Helena Bonham Carter is, as I've said, one of my all time favorite actresses, and she portrays a perfect voice for Emily, The Corpse Bride, giving Emily the perfect voice, one that matches all the features of the character's look on screen. She was definitely a great casting choice for the voice of Emily, The Corpse Bride.

Emily Watson, whom I've only ever seen in the movie "Red Dragon," and even then I don't really remember her, stars in this movie as the lovely Victoria Everglot. Victoria, like Victor, is being forced to marry a man whom she doesn't know at all. Her parents are forcing her into this because they're about poor, and Victor's family, though strange and not normal, have some wealth to their name, and by having her marry Victor Von Dort, they will procure some money, and set them back into the status of high class once more. What Emily is most worried about, though, is that she will not love Victor, and he will not love her back because, despite her parents frequent attempts at telling her love doesn't matter in marriage, she believes that you have to love each other for a marriage to work. However, when she meets Victor, she falls in love with him, and he with her. She loves his clumsy sort of nature, and everything about him, but when they do the wedding rehearsal, Victor has issues with his vows, and accidentally sets her mother's dress on fire. When he runs away, she becomes stricken with grief, but her parents are already fed up with Victor, and have already married her off to their house guest, Lord Barkis, and now she is most unhappy. That's when Victor finally comes to see her, and tells her the most unusual story, and that is of his marriage to The Corpse Bride. She doesn't believe him at all. At least, that is, until Emily appears in her bedroom, most notably as a corpse, and drags Victor back to the Underworld. Now Victoria must try and save the love of her life from the clutches of what she believes to be an EVIL Corpse Bride, so that he can be safe, and alive to help rescue her from Lord Barkis. Emily Watson, though I'm not familiar with her, portrays a wonderful voice for Victoria, and makes the character's emotions and everything else, including her voice, match up with her features, and everything, making the character convincing and believable. Emily Watson was definitely the perfect casting choice for the voice of Victoria Everglot.

Richard E. Grant, an actor that I'm not familiar with at all, voices the seeming villain of this story, Lord Barkis Bittern. Lord Barkis is seen at the beginning of this movie, trouncing around the square of town, and seeming to be normal, but as the Town Crier announces the Wedding Rehearsal of the Von Dorts and the Everglots, he becomes interested. He is not seen again until the scene where Victor messes up the wedding vows. He sits and watches, smirking, as Victor messes up his vows over, and over, and over, and over, and over again, and when Victor finally lights Mrs. Everglot's dress on fire, on accident, and then runs away, Lord Barkis steps in. They offer him housing in their home, thinking him to be a great and rich man, with great nobility, and they treat him wonderfully. Mr. and Mrs. Everglot have definitely had enough with Victor Von Dort and his parents, and immediately call that wedding off. They then get the idea to marry her to Lord Barkis, and smirking the entire time, he agrees. However, there is something more to Lord Barkis that no one can put their fingers on, and Lord Barkis has absolutely no problem with the fact that Emily is broken by The Town Crier's announcement that Victor Von Dort had run off with another women, and then that all of a sudden Emily is raving about corpses and unholy reunions, and still marries her, still smirking the entire time. Richard E. Grant gives a wonderful voicing performance in this movie, and makes this seemingly villainous and evil character all the more frightening, and really does wonderfully as the voice because his voice in this movie matches his character so perfectly! Richard E. Grant was definitely a wonderful casting choice for the voice of Lord Barkis Bittern.

All in all this is another fine movie from Tim Burton, and hopefully one day I can get the DVD to own, and add it to my ever growing "Tim Burton Movie Collection." This movie was just so excellent, and is now one of my favorites, as it was back when came out, and my opinion never wavered an ounce after seeing it for a second time! This movie's directing definitely bring it to what it is, being another great, and probably one of the best, movies from the legendary directing of Tim Burton. The writing, done by many, is definitely another aspect of the movie that make it so awesome, giving us an interesting story. The visuals in this movie, as is the case with it's seeming brother, "The Nightmare Before Christmas," is definitely awesome, and worth seeing on screen, and definitely amazes, as was also the case with the brother film, "The Nightmare Before Christmas." The story of this movie is, like I said earlier, amazing, and also very original because we've never seen one like this before. This is all added to even MORE by the fact that the entire voice cast deliver an incredible, hilarious, convincing, and believable voicing performance in this movie, making it all the more better! If you couldn't tell yet, this was a movie that was definitely awesome, and worth the watch. If this hasn't convinced you that the movie is NOTHING like "The Nightmare Before Christmas," except for the visuals, and the overall awesomeness of the film, than there's no hope for you! This is definitely nothing like "The Nightmare Before Christmas," and it's one of my all time favorite movies, as well as one of my all time favorite Tim Burton movies ever!!!!!