Whenever I put a Tim Burton film into my player I know to expect something a little different. Such is the case with "Corpse Bride." Made as a spiritual sequel to "The Nightmare Before Christmas," "Corpse Bride" uses a lot of the same themes and plot devices. The film may be inferior to "Nightmare," but I still found it to be a good film, albeit incredibly short running a shy hour and seventeen minutes including end credits.
The film takes place in an incredibly subdued Victorian London. We first see Victor Van Dort on his way to a rehearsal for an arranged marriage with a woman named Victoria. The rehearsal doesn't go well and Victor stumbles over his vows. The priest tells him to practice his vows and he leaves the church going through them in his head. Thus, he accidentally marries the corpse bride. The film then goes to the much livelier underworld where this corpse bride lives as the two struggle with their marriage and it's many complications.
My favorite part of the movie is the way Burton illustrated the two worlds. The world of the living is very drab, dark and, in a way, dead. Whereas the world of the dead is exciting, colorful and lively. It's an interesting oxymoron that really brought a lot of thought in this film for me. Having gone through death, the dead are no longer held down to fear.
I didn't really like that rich guy that married Victoria toward the end of the film. I didn't feel like he fit into the plot too much. He did have an interesting death scene though and he did further the corpse bride's story. I just didn't feel like he fit at the beginning half of the film and I think the writer's could have done something to make him seem more foreboding and giving him a nature that would make us think that he was the one responsible for the corpse bride's death.
"Corpse Bride" is a very casual movie that works well for the casual viewer. When compared to Tim Burton's other films, it falls in the middle somewhere. I recommend you rent it.
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