Corpse Bride stuns

Tim Burton has done it again. In a time when glossy CGI dominates the film industry, this visionary director has given us a blast from the past — claymation — without making it seem anachronistic or outdated. Many will recall "The Nightmare Before Christmas," Burton's last foray into the clay-musical. Indeed, the similarities are inescapable, but "Corpse Bride" is a wholly different endeavor from "Nightmare." Significantly, unlike "Nightmare," Burton actually directed "Corpse Bride" himself (with mixed success). More importantly, though, Burton creates a visual feast that reveals his own maturity as an artist. No longer does Burton rely heavily on Daliesque images. Rather, the characters and environments he creates are a unique combination of surrealism, abstraction and decidedly oddball humor.

The story itself lacks the punch of Burton's narrative-focused hit "Big Fish," but the plot of "Corpse Bride" sets the stage adequately for the incredible visuals. The hero is one Victor Van Dort (voiced by Johnny Depp, who seems to appear in almost every Tim Burton film), a nervous young man whose twig-like figure would recall Jack Skellington of "Nightmare" if it weren't for Victor's angular and sullen face. He comes from a family of wealthy fishmongers, who have matched him with the soft-spoken Victoria Everglot (Emily Watson, "Godsford Park"). Victoria is the daughter of a destitute old-money couple. The match is one of convenience: the Van Dorts want aristocratic recognition, and the Everglots need money. Victor and Victoria seem to hit it off quite well when they meet for the first time the day before the marriage, but at the rehearsal, Victor bungles his lines. Chastised, he wanders off into the appropriately creepy woods while practicing the vows. He has the misfortune, though, of rehearsing the ritual in a graveyard, and inadvertently stirs the spirit of Emily, the corpse bride (Helena Bonham Carter, "Big Fish"). As she says "I do," Victor's fate is sealed: though engaged to one of the living, he is married to a deceased woman, and is brought down to the land of the dead with the corpse bride. The rest of the film revolves around this bizarre love triangle, while throwing in an appropriately nefarious villain in the form of the sleazy Baron Barkis.

Ironically, the land of the dead is much more vivacious than the land of the living. In the opening scene, the camera pans through a grayish-white sky, onto grayish-brown buildings and down into a grayish-black cobbled street. The supposedly alive people walking about the street are stilted, almost clockwork; the image lies somewhere between Dickens and Hopper. Conversely, the land of the dead is full of animation and color. Skeletons have a fleshy hue, and the dead congregate in a noisy cabaret club that never seems to close. The portrayal of these two worlds — though only microcosms of each — teases the imagination and suggests a great deal more about life and death than meets the eye.

Burton's greatest success is in animating his characters. The Everglots, in particular, are a delight to see in action. One-dimensionally pragmatic and grim, they wear perpetual frowns and exude an aura of unsympathetic haughtiness — which ultimately makes them the most humorous of the characters. The texture of claymation figures goes a long way toward allowing the viewer to suspend disbelief by creating caricatures while maintaining the right degree of reality.

It is unfortunate that, given such astonishing artistic design and animation, the rest of the film doesn't measure up. The humor is, at times, as stiff as the clay figures. Burton seems to rely on visual presentation to establish his characters, which leaves the dialogue oftentimes lacking in substance or originality. The viewer never tires of the tapestry Burton has stitched, but the plot becomes somewhat predictable and altogether lackluster as the film progresses into its final act. These shortcomings are not as blatant or unforgivable as much of Hollywood's ho-hum fare this past summer, but they prevent "Corpse Bride" from rising above it's mostly visual merits.

The final verdict: Thoroughly entertaining to watch. Don't expect much in terms of plot depth, but Burton's "Corpse Bride" is more than just a film; it's a work of art.

"Corpse Bride" premiers nationwide tomorrow.