Well, hell's bells and nimble elves, I'm friggin jonzed to see this film as in NOW! For quite some time now, us, the secret league of Tim Burton Lovers (folks like me, Moriarty, Frankenseus, etc) have been waiting with baited breath to hear the word on SLEEPY HOLLOW... the film. We have known that the script was great, that Tim Burton was great, that the cast was great, that his DP was his best yet, that Danny Elfman rocks, that ILM rocks and that we were assured that the movie itself would rock. But this review goes past expectations of any mere ordinary rocking. "THIS FILM FUCKING ROCKS!" is the level of rocking that this film is allegedly set at. I'm dying. I SOooooooo want to see this film kick our collective arses. With the year of horror being as strong as it has been... Having seen END OF DAYS and knowing that that film is a pretty damn good film in it's own right... Well, I wante and needed to hear about SLEEPY HOLLOW as a film print. I am... so pleased right now. Heh. Here's long time AICN=er... Darth Siskel to give you the mostly Spoiler-freeish review, nothing major is revealed at all that could ruin the movie. I mean... you did know the Headless Horseman cuts off heads right? Good, here's Darth...
Darth Siskel here.
I'm proud to say, I've just returned from New Jersey!
Why was I in 'the Toxic-Waste State' ? I was there to see one of the most anticipated movies of 1999. Yes, I got to see Tim Burton's latest before anyone else in the world! (including that evil bastard Moriarty!)
SLEEPY HOLLOW!!!
I am a Tim Burton fan. I love all of his movies, except for Batman Returns.(It was half good). PeeWee's Big Adventure, classic. BeetleJuice, classic. Edward Scissorhands, another classic. Ed Wood, classic. Mars Attacks, I understood it and I love it long time. When I heard he was doing Sleepy Hollow, I didn't need to see any posters, or trailers, I knew I had something to look foward to. The material seemed more than perfect for him, & vice versa.
WOW! I thought okay, this is going to be good. We're going to see some great visuals...the sweetest of eye candy.. another classic. I was not prepared however for the power of THE HEADLESS HORSEMAN!!
I'll try to be as 'Spoiler free' as possible..
THIS MOVIE FUCKING ROCKED!!!
Ray Park played the Headless Horseman, & he just gave us more of that Darth Maul magic. This guy is good. He knows how to move with a sword & it really shows. By getting a martial artist to play the role, they brought the Horseman to the highest level of believability achievable. Watching the movie, this was not some guy in a costume. This was a full-on badass spirit of vengeance!! I would not want to walk the woods in the next county with this guy around!
THIS MOVIE IS RATED 'R' !
There is no way in hell this movie is getting a PG-13. It was graphic. We get to see EVERY decapitation!! And I mean we get to see 'cuts free' decapitations! ILM has their hands in this movie. There are some shots in this movie that will make you mourn the actors that lost their heads. You gotta love digital compositing! There was some really good dummy head work done too.
THE MOVIE IS ABOUT Ichabod Crane trying to solve the town's recent rash of beheadings. At the end of the movie, when the mystery of the horseman is cleared up, you might think it's silly. I thought it was pretty good.. The movie has a pretty serious tone for the most part, with some nice humor sprinkeled throughout, & a few odd moments that seemed slightly out of place. The rest of the movie is just glorious.
THE CAST WAS GREAT!
Johnny Depp was a great Ichabod Crane. Cristina Ricci was very good. Burton fans will see alot of familiar faces including Lisa Marie, Christopher Walken, Martin Landau, & that guy from BeetleJuice. Oh yeah, Palpatine is in it too! He's good, but man all I can think of when I see him is.... Palpatine!! Depp had a great accent. They all had great accents. Walken's part was pretty small, but he made a terrific Headed Horseman.
VISUALLY BEAUTIFUL. This movie was so beautiful. They really pulled off 1799 New York. Ichabod's ride up along the Hudsen River to Sleepy Hollow is amazing to look at. The town of Sleepy Hollow itself is just.....wow. Wonderful lighting & texture all throughout. The dark woods, the fog, creepy. This movie was a fairytale brought to life. And nothing really looked CG'd. The costumes were just as remarkable. I really like the Horseman's getup. Too bad the movie won't be out until after Halloween. Burton did an overall great job with the camera, & the storytelling. I was not expecting as much action as there was. Whenever the Horseman shows up, which is often (Thank you!!), he just shows us his badass moves. I can't say anymore...
Thank you for not making a tame movie about people getting their heads cut off! Thank you for doing it right. When the first decapitation happened in the movie, a woman behind me said "This is disgusting." Seeing a fable brought to life with such fierceness was the most beautiful thing I've seen in awhile.
The poster says "HEADS WILL ROLL!"
They weren't lying folks. This movie delivers!
-Darth Siskel ending transmission -
