Flightplan - one star out of fiveDirected by Robert Schwentke

Starring Jodie Foster, Peter Sarsgaard

The opening scene of Flightplan is artistic and engaging. The plane takes off, and it's all downhill from there. The problem is that it is missing a thriller's most essential component: thrill. The mind-numbing action sequences and weak plot will leave audiences waiting more eagerly for the credits than the story's resolution.

Jodie Foster stars as Kyle Pratt, an engineer who is traveling home to New York after the mysterious death of her husband in Berlin. Her daughter Julia (Marlene Lawston) disappears mid-flight, and Pratt discovers that not only does the airline have no record of the child, but also that none of the passengers even remember seeing her. Pratt, questioning her own sanity, has become her daughter's only hope.

As exciting as an action mystery 40 thousand feet in the air sounds, Flightplan doesn't deliver. The plot is predictable and repetitive, largely consisting of Pratt repeatedly storming into the cockpit, demanding that specific parts of the plane be searched, witnessing the skeptical crew returning empty-handed and beginning the pattern anew, all resulting in an anticlimactic and drawn-out ending.

It's especially hard to believe that an airplane's crew-who first accuse Pratt of being either a drunk or a pill-popper-would be so reluctant to search for a missing child, and a number of tasteless references to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks add no class to this film.

Foster's performance is feeble, and her character's emotions are generally limited to hysteria and determination. You'd think that Foster-winner of a Best Actress Oscar for her performance in The Silence of the Lambs-would have mystery thrillers down to a science by now.

We can give the writers credit, however, for covering up potential plot holes. Even the smallest details prove important, and keeping track of these minutiae is probably the only fun thing about Flightplan. Director Robert Schwentke has made a noble attempt at creating a suspenseful, edge-of-your-seat thriller. With only a few redeeming qualities, however, Flightplan is hardly worth seeing.

-Sara O'Brien

Tim Burton's Corpse Bride - three stars out of five

Directed by Tim Burton

Starring Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Emily Watson, Richard E. Grant, Christopher Lee, Danny Elfman, Michael Gough

More than a decade after his last venture into stop-motion animation, Tim Burton makes a lukewarm return to the medium with his latest film, Corpse Bride. On the heels of the director's popular remake of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Corpse Bride was filmed in the same style as the popular The Nightmare Before Christmas, employing a painstaking process which takes much longer to film and is generally more expensive than live action or drawn animation.

The film centers on the unfortunate Victor (voiced by many-time Burton collaborator Johnny Depp) who, while practicing his wedding vows by placing his ring on a tree branch, unwittingly marries a corpse. The deceased bride (Helena Bonham Carter) was killed on her own wedding day, and isn't about to take no for an answer from her new and still-breathing groom. As the film progresses, Victor is torn between his ghoulish wife-whom he develops genuine feelings for-and his actual fiance, Victoria (Emily Watson).

Like many of Burton's films, Corpse Bride weaves an atmosphere both dreamy and macabre. The people are spindly, with exaggerated limbs and heads. The buildings are gothic and foreboding, but somehow the scenery becomes endearing as the movie progresses.

The film's great irony is simple: With its musical numbers and fun denizens, the land of the dead is more alive than Victor's Victorian land of the living. Even the disgusting little details-such as maggots popping out of the bride's eyes or the occasional dismemberment--are charming.

Unfortunately, that charm is about the only thing this film has going for it. It's a brief 77 minutes, but even at that the film's ideas are exhausted by the time the credits roll. And while Corpse Bride might have worked better as a part of a collection of animation shorts rather than as a feature-length film, no one will leave the theater without a smile.

-Matthew Wright