Justin Chang of "Variety" gave the film a positive review, saying "This macabre musical about a young bridegroom who mistakenly weds a girl from beyond the grave is an endearingly schizoid Frankenstein of a movie, by turns relentlessly high-spirited and darkly poignant." Kirk Honeycutt of "The Hollywood Reporter" gave the film a positive review, calling it "A wondrous flight of fancy, a stop-motion-animated treat brimming with imaginative characters, evocative sets, sly humor, inspired songs and a genuine whimsy that seldom finds its way into today's movies." Michael Atkinson of "The Village Voice" gave the film a positive review, saying "The variety of its cadaverous style is never less than inspired; never has the human skull's natural grin been redeployed so exhaustively for yuks." Owen Gleiberman of "Entertainment Weekly" gave the film a B, saying "As an achievement in macabre visual wizardry, Tim Burton's "Corpse Bride" has to be reckoned some sort of marvel." Manohla Dargis of "The New York Times" gave the film four out of five stars, saying "Cinema's reinvigorated fixation with the living dead suggests that we are in the grip of an impossible longing, or perhaps it's just another movie cycle running its course. Whatever the case, there is something heartening about Mr. Burton's love for bones and rot here, if only because it suggests, despite some recent evidence, that he is not yet ready to abandon his own dark kingdom." Moira MacDonald of "The Seattle Times" gave the film three and a half stars out of four, saying "What makes "Corpse Bride" sing, ultimately, is the breadth of imagination that it demonstrates; creating a cluttered, textured and mysteriously beautiful world that we're loathe to leave at the end."