THE CORPSE BRIDE

With voices by Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Emily Watson, Christopher Lee
Directed by Tim Burton

It has been a while since Henry Selick gave animated life to Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas. Now Burton takes the reigns himself with this delightfully stylish stop-animated tale of love beyond the grave. I can hear the necrophiliacs sit up at attention, but there is nothing grissly or tacky about it - well not really. If it was a live action movie it may have been a bit more creepy, but all the better for it in this meticulous incarnation. The son of a fishmonger is to marry a girl he doesn't know. She's from a well-off family whose fortunes ailed beyond repair (unbeknownst to the community of course). Her parents despise the boy's family and their profession, but it's for the money. He also has his doubts, not knowing her from a bar of soap - although she's quite lovely. At the intimidating wedding rehearsal he keeps fumbling his vows. So he takes a break and strolls into the woods. Here he practices his vows and accidentally proposes to a dead girl who rises form the soil to say "I do!". He is taken into the vibrant underworld where they attempt to convince him to stick to this accidental marriage. With musical numbers, humour, great detail and a splendid gothic look, The Corpse Bride is another very cool off-centre project from Hollywood's oddest mainstream director.

5 / B
- PB

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