film title:Sleepy Hollow
film studio:
director: Tim Burton
stars:
multimedia:
category:
rating:

summary:Lo sapete che solo nella nostra galassia ci sono più o meno 50 milioni di pianeti simili al nostro e che quindi è quasi

reviewer profile
name: Natalie Cumming
age: xx
all time favorite film: Titanic
current favorite: Blair Witch Project
comedy: Saving Private Ryan
action: Green Fryed Tomatos
drama: Ace Ventura
band/music:Travis

Sleepy Hollow
Tim Burton is a master of creating fantasy worlds full of unusual imagery. In that respect Sleepy Hollow is his best work to date. However, it fails to create a world that you can believe in, and ends up being a superficial glamour piece. The story is simple. In fact, it's based on a short story and would have made a perfect short film. It doesn't quite go the distance as a feature film. It is 1799 and according to New York constable Ichabod Crane, the turn of the "millennium." Crane, ahead of his time in using modern forensic techniques, is sent upstate to a small Dutch community to investigate a serial murderer who decapitates his victims. The superstitious townspeople believe the killer is a ghost. According to local legend, Hessian Horseman was a viscous German mercenary during wartime, and has returned to avenge his own beheading. Crane sets out to prove that it's a human committing the murders, but ends up on the run himself from the terrifying Headless Horseman. Sleepy Hollow is basically a horror film with good set design. From the costumes of lovely Christina Ricci to the scientific instruments of Johnny Depp, no detail is overlooked to create this fantasy world. The wood setting and old houses are all very picturesque and create a dark and intriguing world. As with many good horror films though, character development is sacrificed in favour of special effects and gore. It's not all blood and guts, but there were enough shots of the Headless Horseman's sword slicing through necks to make myself and the girl sitting next to me vomit into our popcorn several times. Depp is a good actor normally, and is always enjoyable to watch, but his Crane was just too cartoonish to keep me interested. Same with Ricci. She's a great actor, but she was basically hired to bat her eyelashes and stare intensely at Depp. There were definitely things to ponder as I watched Sleepy Hollow, but they weren't plot twists or character changes. One thing I'll say is I love the names of the characters, Ichabod being the standout. However, it's kind of confusing when all the characters have names like Baltus Van Tassel, Magistrate Phillipse and Brom Van Brunt. I said it was a simple story, but it's not always easy to follow! It was also interesting to notice the recurring themes in Burton's films. How he likes to get his raven-haired stars to dye their hair blonde - think Winona Ryder in Edward Scissorhands. And his obsession with cleavage (not that there's anything wrong with that)! Oh and the whole pumpkin head thing - I wonder what notable event happened to Burton as a kid on Halloween? If you've seen The Nightmare Before Christmas you'll know what I mean. In closing, Sleepy Hollow will please Burton and schlock horror fans. Star spotters will also enjoy it for the cult status cast. It's entertaining, but it's certainly no classic.