Renowned for his gothic pre-occupations (see Batman, Beetlejuice,
Edward Scissorhands), this revisionist take on The Legend Of Sleepy
Hollow feels like a safe bet for Tim Burton. It looks fantastic and the
action set-pieces are superbly frightening and viciously
unremitting, but Depp as Ichabod Crane is a tad too comic and anxious,
while Ricci is just bland. The headless horseman is the true star, but
this leaves the movie lacking a strong centre, the key flaw in Burton's
work. Here, though, the grisly antics lack the wit and quirky joy of his
earlier films to compensate.
