After being cut apart by the police, killer doll Chucky (Brad Dourif) is resurrected by Tiffany (Jennifer Tilly), an ex-girlfriend of the serial murderer whose soul is inside the toy. Following an argument, Chucky kills Tiffany and transfers her soul into a bride doll. To find the magical amulet that can restore them both to human form, Chucky and Tiffany arrange to be driven to New Jersey by Jesse (Nick Stabile) and Jade (Katherine Heigl), who are unaware that their cargo is alive.
Bride of Chucky is the first film in the franchise that steers away from the human-centric storylines, instead, placing full emphasis on Chucky's character arc, and is signalled by the change in titles from "Child's Play" to the "...of Chucky" variety. Funnily enough, despite the story taking a turn towards Chucky's story, he is still on the backseat for much of the film, with most of the film's focus on Tiffany Valentine.
In fact, the first twenty minutes of the film is all about this new character that we haven't met before, and it is potentially one of the best decisions made in the franchise. It leads to the creation of Chucky's signature sewn-together look (which is quite possibly his most well-known appearance) and introduces another level of development to Chucky's character; a girlfriend. Interestingly, Tiff isn't just a voluptuous woman thrown for the sake of bringing in those teenage boys (granted, she would have done a good job of that), but she is a main character in her own right and is portrayed as an incredibly independent strong-willed woman.
This focus on Chucky and his significant other allows a new direction for the films. Using Chucky's dark humour in an environment with a peer allows a much more comedic tone for the film. Giving Chucky someone to interact with (that he isn't about to murder) allows much more freedom when it comes to dialogue, shifting from ironic puns to any topic at all that they can poke fun at; gender roles, Chucky's size and anatomy, even the concept of reproduction. This increase in comedy does mean that the film isn't quite a slasher flick or horror film anymore. Bride of Chucky is instead more of a supernatural dark comedy.
That being said, the film does still have the creative deaths that we have come to love from the Child's Play franchise, and it pays homage to some of the horror greats along the way (keep an eye out for nods to Hellraiser, Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers, and Freddy Krueger). While some people will certainly dislike the change in direction of the franchise, there is a large amount of self-awareness written into the dialogue, and effort is made to try and ensure it still has a good amount of gore.
The plot is pretty basic, though there are side stories that are really unnecessary, and seem to be there only for the purpose of introducing characters to be killed (which includes a nice cameo performance by the late John Ritter).
Bride of Chucky has a great soundtrack comprised of rock & heavy metal and is the first film that actually sets up a sequel (rather than try to explain in the opening sequence of the following film) so there are a lot of firsts for this film. More comedy, less emphasis on Chucky, and a complete tangent from the Andy Barclay arc, Bride of Chucky breathes a breath of fresh air into the franchise.