Corpse Bride (2005)

  Now that Christy lives with me, you're going to be getting a lot more Christy picks.  We're trying to set up a round robin type thing where she, Rob, and I each get to pick a movie a night.  That way everybody loses.  I kid, I kid!  You know me, or at least you should by now, more movies is always preferable to less movies.  Even if I hate it I always try to think of the experience as a cautionary tale for my readers.  I suffer through them so YOU don't have to. 

Until we're actually in the new apartment and she can unpack, she's kind of stuck choosing from either my collection or Rob's.  This is one of the former, so I can't complain too much. 

I saw this way back in theaters and, while I wasn't jumping out of my seat, I didn't actively dislike it.  Watching it again really only confirmed my previous opinion that Tim Burton was trying to recapture the lightning-strike success of Nightmare Before Christmas but couldn't.  In a way, I think he's still trying.  *coughcoughDark Shadowscough*

Victor (Johnny Depp) is arranged to marry Victoria (Emily Mortimer).  This match means greater social standing for his fishmonger parents (Tracey Ullman and Paul Whitehouse) and a much-needed cash infusion for her aristocratic parents (Joanna Lumley and Albert Finney).  What Victor and Victoria want isn't taken into account.  Still, the two shyly fancy each other and things look to be going well until Victor flubs his vows at the rehearsal and is kicked out by the minister (Christopher Lee).  Practicing in the woods, Victor finally manages to say them correctly while placing the ring on a finger-like twig.  Surprise!  The twig is actually the finger of a young woman who murdered before her wedding.  Convinced she has now found the man of her dreams, the undead beauty drags Victor down to the underworld. 

Even though I had seen it before, I was surprised at how much was set to music.  It feels forced, though, not organic like Nightmare Before Christmas and I think it would have been better off just being a stop-motion animation.  Also, and maybe I'm just confusing this film with something else I had seen, I thought that there was more of a revelation when it comes to the identity of the Corpse Bride's killer.  Specifically, I could have sworn that he had bludgeoned her to death with something that had his name on it and it imprinted onto her skull.  Maybe that was CSI.  Whatever. 

There were any number of things that could have been improved.  Unless you're a huge Tim Burton fan, you could easily give this one a pass and I would recommend doing so.