Sleepy Hollow (R) ** 1/2 Starring Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci Directed by Tim Burton Year Released: 1999 A Review by Frankie Paiva
Throughtout movie history, there have been some very simple rules that almost all films abide by. Sequels are never as good as the first movie, Demi Moore is stupid and cannot act, and anything starting with the words I Know or I Still Know will be bad. There are some exceptions with these rules, Toy Story 2 and Scream 2 were far better than their originals and I Know What You Did Last Summer wasn't that incredibly bad. (The jury is still out on Demi Moore's acting ability and will probably be for quite some time.) The ultimate rule of all is that when a book gets turned into a movie, the book is always better. All of us have seen countless novels adapted to the screen that were major disappointments. Even worse is seeing a trailer for a movie, thinking it looks absolutely awesome, and then seeing it, only to find out it's a dud. The last two sentences I've written above do a great job of describing Sleepy Hollow, the new Tim Burton film that is turning out to be a Thanksgiving hit. While none of us should really expect that much from any holiday production (Tim Burton and Johnny Depp bring the expectancy of quality up a notch), the film doesn't even deliver the thrills and shrieks that parade madly around in the film's trailer. Elements add up to become something that isn't very fun to watch at all, not to mention extremely gory.
Ichabod Crane (Depp, who's great and gives the film a much needed dose of humor) is a constable from New York. He believes in using proper and up to date (the setting is the late 1790s after all) scientific methods to find criminals and thieves. He detests the usual torture methods that are used by the court. He is sent to the north called Sleepy Hollow. Recently, several people have been found dead in the forest surrounding the town. All of the victims have had their heads chopped off and the heads are nowhere to be found. The townspeople believe that the murderer the Headless Horseman, who was actually a man who died almost exactly five years ago. This is preposterous to Ichabod who views the legend simply as an old myth until he sees the headless villain on his mighty black steed one night in the woods.
Searching for clues on how to put him back into his grave for good, he consults different members of the town including the wealthy Van Tassel family. He also takes a liking to their daughter Katrina, played by Christina Ricci. He also talks with various priests and noblemen. The clues begin to add up as Ichabod discovers why the horseman is alive, and how to make him stop.
Sleepy Hollow is very beautiful. The town itself is beautifully constructed and the light fog that always seems to be hovering over the ground gives the film a unique sense of atmosphere. Tim Burton does a great job with the camera and pays attention to the smallest detail. But besides the wondrous visual beauty (and a great performance from Depp) I couldn't find much else to like in this film. All of the scary scenes that are shown in the previews are all that is scary in the entire movie. The marketing (once again) does a horrible thing by giving away key points and dramatic special effect moments in the film. The supporting cast isn't so hot, Christina Ricci is god awful and most other characters are there for the horseman to kill. The film is also senselessly violent (much, much more than it needs to be) and contains one too many beheadings for its own good. The most ideal way to view Sleepy Hollow would be to watch the preview over and over again. It shows all of the beautiful moments in the film, as well as the only scary ones, and doesn’t show any of the blood and guts the real movie has. Falling somewhere between OK and good, Sleepy Hollow gets my ** 1/2 stars.
The Young-Uns: There are at least 10 extremely graphic decapitations, as well as some other violence and plenty of blood. There is also a brief sex scene that doesn’t show much. Good Age: 16 & Up
A Review by Frankie Paiva The 12 Year-Old Movie Reviewer E-Mail me at SwpStke@aol.com Visit my website at http://www.homestead.com/teenagemoviecritic/mainpage.html
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