Movie Review

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Tim Burton

Our Rating ****

“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” by Tim Burton, was a thrilling movie. It included horror, romance, and adventure. Ichabod Crane (played by Johnny Depp) lives in the city and often complains that people are just thrown in jail without proof that they are guilty. Ichabod says that crime should be investigated using proper scientific tools. Crane is then sent to Sleepy Hollow to solve the mystery of who is responsible for the murders. He soon finds out that the murders are not normal murders. The head is severed and stolen in each case. Ichabod is accompanied by young Jonathan Masbeth (played by Mark Spalding), who is orphaned because of the headless horseman. Ichabod and Katrina Van Tassel (played by Christina Ricci) grow fond of each other, but Ichabod must face the rivalry of Brom Bones (played by Casper Van Dien). The movie would be a perfect movie except for one major thing. Why call the movie “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” if it barely resembles the original legend written by Washington Irving. The movie's plot is mainly the story of who is killing the people of Sleepy Hollow and how to stop the headless horseman. The plot in the book, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” by Washington Irving, is mainly about Ichabod Crane trying to win the hand of Katrina Van Tassel. In the book, Ichabod is a foolish, good-natured schoolteacher. In the movie, Ichabod is a daring, brave, young scientific detective. By writing this, I do not mean that “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” was not a good movie, but that it should have been named, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Very Revised Edition.”