Corpse Bride

Movie Title--  Corpse Bride

Release Year--  2005

Running Time--  1 Hour and 27 Minutes

Director--  Tim Burton and Mike Johnson

Cast--  Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Emily Watson, Tracey Ullman, Paul Whitehouse, Joanna Lumley, Albert Finney, Christopher Lee, Jane Horrocks

While a shy young groom is practicing his wedding vows, he indavertantlly marries a deceased woman who rises from the grave to take him as her husband.

In a Victorian era European village, Victor Van Dort (Johnny Depp), the son of newly rich fish merchants and Emily Everglot (Emily Watson), the daughter of stuck-up aristocrats are preparing to be married via an arranged marriage that will raise the Van Dort's to a higher class and restore the Everglot's wealth.  Both Victor and Victoria are concerned about marrying someone they don't know but the moment they meet it is love at first sight.

During wedding rehearsal, the shy and clumsy Victor can not remember what he is supposed to say and after a few mishaps, Pastor Galswells (Christopher Lee) shames Victor, then demands that he practice before the wedding the following day.  Victor flees from the Everglot home and while walking through the woods, he begins practicing his vows and slides the wedding ring on an a tree root sticking up from out of the ground.

To his surprise, a deceased woman rises from the ground, the root actually being her bony finger, claiming that she is now his wife.  The corpse is wearing an old tattered wedding gown and she sweeps him away and down to the surprisingly lively land of the dead.  Victor soon learns the very sorrowful story of Emily (Helena Bonham Carter), his new "bride".  Emily had fallen in love with a man and they decided to elope.  The man tells Emily to bring money and all her jewels with her and they would steal away in the night together but as she waited on him, someone sneaks up behind her and murders her.

Meanwhile, the Everglot family and the Van Dort family are getting very antsy.  Victor is missing and Lord Barkis Bittern (Richard E. Grant), who crashed the rehearsal has found the town crier who has announced that Victor was found slipping off into the night with another woman. 

Wanting to give Victor a wedding present, Emily reunites him with his long dead dog, Scraps.  Although Emily is excited about her marriage, Victor is trying to find a way to get back to Victoria. 

Victor finally convinces Emily that he wants to return to the land of the living one last time so that he can introduce her to his parents.  Delighted that he wants her to meet his parents, Emily takes Victor to Elder Gutknecht (Michael Gough) and asks him to send them temporarily "upstairs".  Once they are in the forest, he then asks Emily to stay behind while he goes and explains what is going on to his parents, then he promises to come and get her right away.  Victor then flees to the Everglot home and sneaks into Victoria's room.  He quickly tells Victoria that what he has done is a mistake and he wants to marry her as soon as possible.  When Victoria expresses the same feelings, they lean in to kiss each other for the first time but suddenly the doors bust open and Emily is standing there.

Emily gives the cue to take them back to the underworld and feels hurt and betrayed by Victor.  Meanwhile, Victoria is alarmed by Emily's intrusion and tells her parents that Victor is being held hostage by a dead woman.  Her parents think that she is losing her mind, so they lock her in her room but Victoria escapes and runs to the church to tell Pastor Galswells what is happening to Victor, thinking that he will believe her but instead he leads her back to her home where Victoria's parents inform her that she is to marry Lord Barkis.

Soon, Emily and Victor reconcile but the Van Dort coachman, Mayhew (Paul Whitehouse), arrives in the underworld and tells Victor of the plans to marry Victoria to Lord Barkis.  Elder Gutknecht pulls Emily aside and informs her that her marriage to Victor is not valid because she is already dead and Victor is not and in order for their marriage to be binding Victor would have to die as well.  Overhearing what is being said, Victor steps forward and agrees to die for Emily, stating that he made a promise to her and he would be a man of his world.  The underworld then decides to visit the land of the living to witness Victor and Emily's wedding.

I enjoyed this film.  I don't like it quite as much as I liked "Nightmare Before Christmas" but this film definitely holds it's own.  This is another pairing of two of Burton's favorite actors, Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter and as usual, it works so well together.  By now, Depp and Bonham Carter know what Burton expects out of them and their acting tends to be very seamless.  

I think this is a good film to watch with the kids, just know that very young children may be frightened of this film, so use your discretion when deciding on who to watch this with.  Decide wisely but Don't Forget the Popcorn!