Coraline Review
Coraline
Directed by: Henry Selick
Written by: Henry Selick (screenplay), Neil Gaiman (book)
Starring (the voices of): Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, John Hodgman, Ian McShane
It goes without saying in this age of cheap digital technology and computer-generated wizardry, stop motion animation is a dying artform. Back when Ray Harryhausen was in his prime, this style of animation was cutting edge, but in recent years it has become more of an oddity, far too tedious for mainstream feature films. Fortunately, there are still a few people keeping it alive, most notably Henry Selick, director of one of the most successful stop motion movies of all time, The Nightmare Before Christmas.
The thing with The Nightmare Before Christmas is that Tim Burton tends to get most of the credit for it, and Burton’s fingerprints can definitely be seen all over it, Selick is responsible for a lot more than most people realize. Both of Selick’s own solo projects that followed, James and the Giant Peach and Monkeybone, failed to find the same level of success, but I daresay that Coraline is the long-awaited masterpiece that will finally bring him all the respect he deserves.
Based on a children’s book written by Neil Gaiman (Stardust, MirrorMask), Coraline is a creepy fairy tale that clearly draws much of its inspiration from Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. Young Coraline Jones has just moved into a new house with her mom and dad, both of whom are writers and for the most part, too busy to pay any attention to her. Out of boredom, Coraline explores the new house and eventually stumbles upon a small doorway that leads to an alternate world that seems similar to the real world except that everyone has buttons for eyes. At first it seems to be a dream come true, a place where her parents are friendly and cheerful and only too happy to spend time with her. Eventually, however, she realizes that there is something more sinister at work, and with the help of a strange cat from next door, she must save the souls of others who have been trapped in the alternate world forever.
I realize I’ll lose a lot of geek cred by saying this, but I’m not a huge fan of Neil Gaiman’s work — at least, not the stuff I have seen so far. I didn’t really like either Stardust or MirrorMask, and in general, his stories seem a bit stuffy and too steeped in classical English literature to truly excite me. I’m happy to say, however, that Coraline really clicked for me. It takes a while to to get rolling, but once the twist is revealed and we understand the true extent of Coraline’s predicament, it’s hard not to be completely absorbed. The storytelling is on par with a Pixar film, or even Guillermo Del Toro’s critically-acclaimed Pan’s Labyrinth.
There isn’t as much emphasis on quirky, offbeat characters as there was in The Nightmare Before Christmas or Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride, which may disappoint some, but it makes the central narrative that much stronger. With the exception of Mr. Bobinsky, the retired circus performer who lives upstairs, and Miss Forcible and Miss Spink, the retired actresses who live next door, the movie contains a fairly small cast of characters, and they aren’t overly cartoony. The majority of the real world is fairly subdued, which in turn makes the alternate world seem that much more fantastical.
I suppose it goes without saying that the visuals in this movie are cool, but I was pretty blown away by the eye candy dished out by Selick and the other talented folks at LAIKA. There are some seriously trippy and moments, with set pieces and sequences that are comparable to Yellow Submarine. The pure artistry of the movie is amazing, especially when you stop and realize that virtually everything you see on screen was hand-made. There are also some eerie and disturbing images, not quite in that “Tim Burton dismembered head” sort of way, but to the point where I do think it could be too much for some younger kids.
Seeing the movie in 3D is also a treat. This was actually the first movie I have seen in the new Real D technology, and I thought it really enhanced the film, even if it wasn’t entirely necessary. There were only a couple of moments were it was deliberately distracting (particularly the opening credits), but for the most part it just added to the dream-like qualities of the alternate world. I’m not going to say this is the movie that takes 3D beyond being just a gimmick, but it’s a step in the right direction.
It should be noted that there are also a few short musical numbers throughout the film, but not enough to turn someone off who isn’t into that kind of thing (ie. me). Since this is not a Tim Burton production, Danny Elfman is nowhere to be found, and the majority of the soundtrack is done by French composer Bruno Coulais. At times, I was almost convinced I was listening to the music of French electropop band Stereolab, which is a nice change of pace from Elfman’s bombastic scores. There is also one 30-second piano piece that was written by They Might Be Giants.
I went in expecting Coraline to be a creative and colourful popcorn flick, but it ended up being the first major release of 2009 that I’ve fallen completely in love with. Is it for everyone? Probably not. Is it just for kids? Definitely not. Once again, if you’re a fan of Pixar movies, Pan’s Labyrinth, or any dark fantasy film with a kid as the central protagonist, there’s no reason why you wouldn’t enjoy Coraline. Even if you’re just interested in the visuals, that’s fine, but this movie has a lot more to offer than Pee-Wee’s Playhouse-style surrealism. — Sean
SCORE: 
Recommended If You Like: The Nightmare Before Christmas, Pan\'s Labyrinth, Beetlejuice
Comments (22)
I whole-heartedly agree. The beginning was kind of uneven, but once the story got going, I was completely absorbed.
Posted by Jon on February 8th, 2009Thanks for the heads up. I’m definitely going to support this film in the theaters. I loved “Nightmare” and need to do some research on the comment that Burton’s hand was overplayed!? I just wish some of these stop motion films would not have such a pronounced dark element; not for myself but for the kids. Why is it the people that support stop motion don’t do a totally feel good movie like a reboot of “Frosty the Snowman” or “Rudolph”! That shit is tight, and still the best thing about holiday TV!
Posted by rus in chicago on February 8th, 2009Agree. Sort of a “Alice in Wonderland” meets “Pan Labyrinth”. As far as the scary factor – I think it depends on the child – I wouldn’t recommend children under seven-years-old see this movie. Some parents with small children left because the context and the 3D imagery was to overwhelming and frightening for them. However, my daughter (nine-years-old) was enthralled by the visuals and the macabre storyline.
Posted by Nicole Pollard on February 8th, 2009So Sean are you saying that this won’t be a Goth classic that all the emo kids will start to dress up like the characters? Say it ain’t so, they need something fresh now that their Heath Ledger’s Joker fascination is starting to wear off.
Posted by swarez on February 8th, 2009If the opening of the movie was alittle slow I really didn’t notice. I was totally pulled in with the visuals. This was one of the most beautiful films I’ve seen. The details were incredible and the 3D was awesome. Like Jay, I really don’t care for 3D, but this was on a level I haven’t seen. If this is were 3D is going I will be willing to give it more of a chance.
Posted by Mike K. on February 8th, 2009“So Sean are you saying that this won’t be a Goth classic that all the emo kids will start to dress up like the characters?”
I can only speak for myself here, just diverting with a tiny poll: Has anyone else already noticed the (stereotypical) “emo” look already starting to disappear? I used to see kids like this everywhere, the stereotypical hair, jeans and t shirt styles, but I’m already noticing that its kind of fallen apart already.
Posted by Goon on February 8th, 2009I guess they had enough of jokes said about them on the internet, like the Emo Beat Down Day and countless of comments about their photos of themselves looking slightly up to the camera with their pierced eyes trying to look gloomy and tortured on the inside.
Posted by swarez on February 8th, 2009What a bunch of tools.
The kid who lives next door to Coraline has a bit of an emo/goth look to him. But he also wears this weird ass metal mask with like a periscope attached to it or something.
Posted by Sean on February 8th, 2009Hmmm, maybe I’ll check this out at the theater after all… Won’t be opening here until april though.
Posted by Bas on February 8th, 2009Just got back from this awesome film. This is 3d goodness at it’s finest. Even in the few parts that were slow, the visuals keep you enthralled. The 3D technology has really come into it’s own.
Posted by Section 31 on February 8th, 2009I’m wondering if we’ll see this on blue-ray in 3D ??
A bundled set that has the polarized glasses, the 3D version and a regular non-3D version would be freaking awesome.
See this in the theater while you can.
sadly they will not release this in 3d on dvd unless they change it to use the old school red/blue 3d glasses. Real D is unable to be viewed on televisions at home since it takes expensive projection technology to view it. i had the chance to see real d for myself with my bloody valentine but im very excited to see what they do with a animated movie.
Posted by greedoburrito on February 9th, 2009How did they release Journey to the Center of the Earth in 3-D on DVD and Blu-ray? Was that the red/blue glasses?
Posted by Sean on February 9th, 2009i just ordered journey to the center of the earth and while reviewing the contents of the dvd seen that the glasses included are red/blue glasses (anaglyph glasses). As far as i know its the only form of 3d viewable on most tvs. they are sellin 3d tvs now if u can poop gold bricks ur in luck cause they’re kind of pricey. anaglyph glasses dont give u nowhere near the kind of image u get at the movie theater but it does add another dimension to the movie.
Posted by greedoburrito on February 9th, 2009I loved this film. I thought it was brilliant, and the 3D was actually very well used. And I’m generally against 3D period.
Posted by Alex on February 13th, 2009I loved the book, and the film does it more than justice. It’s Ed Gorey on acid. Mesmerizing.
Posted by Nadine Bouler on February 14th, 2009It was good, but I really did expect a lot more. It took a long time to get going, and when it did it was more of a rollercoaster ride than anything truly engaging character-wise. I didn’t really care for the characters at all, especially Coraline, who even in a 3d movie is pretty 2d.
She spends all her time being bored, declaring that she’s bored, and is unhappy, and then out of nowhere we’re supposed to believe she cares so much and regrets it. In terms maybe Jay can understand, imagine if in Home Alone we didn’t have any of the spots of the family trying to get home, and it was nothing but Kevin’s adventures. You could still get laughs and entertainment, but you’re missing a whole other level that actually is supposed to make you connect to these people.
In general, the problem isn’t so much as what’s there, it’s what is missing.
Posted by Goon on February 16th, 2009The movie was pretty aweful.
I hate to be the stereotypical “The book was so-o much better!!!1!” guy, but it’s the cold hard truth in the case of Coraline.
I can’t for the life of me understand why you’d add the character “Whybie” to the story. For the book, Coraline’s only compatriot is the Cat, but in the movie they introduced a weird mask wearing child to take over half of the Cat’s buddy role. In the end it just weakened both characters.
As a person who saw the movie the old fashioned way (as opposed to the 3d that everyone’s talking about) the movie had a very poor quality to its animation. It looked very jerky at times, moreso than any other stop animation film I’ve seen.
Also, even though the movie is adapted from a short book, the movie itself felt extremely long. I’d rather spend a couple hours reading a good short book, instead of wasting a couple hours watching a shoddy adaptation of it.
Posted by LackofCertainty on February 22nd, 2009I saw the 2-D version, I have to say I enjoyed it. I read the book in 8th grade and I wished this would become a movie. I think I was really the only one in our school that had read this book.
I loved the music in the film, and the, well everything. I would say stop motion animation has evolved since nightmare, this film’s animation was much better. I say this in part when I watch nightmare and the residents of Halloween town do look like little figures.
But the characters in Coraline, were awesomely animated, I could hardly tell I was watching a stop action style movie until such parts came as the break of the egg on the pan, because that did look like stop action animation, or when the mouse band started playing (but there was a lot of mice in that scene, kudos). The new added character was alright, I liked him, actually, he always had a slight tilt of his head,which kept me entertained I guessed.
It took place somewhere in Oregon and I live in Oregon so it really is a great treat to see all the trees and stuff, I could relate more to the surroundings that way.
Posted by Kurtless on February 25th, 2009I don’t know why they put Whybie into the movie, he wasn’t in the book and it seemed kind of unnecessary, but all the same I loved his creepy mask/periscope thingamabob and handmade motorbike!
i just saw a comment above saying the animation wasn’t that great, i completely disagree. This movie was amazingly animated and I never noticed any “jerky” movement and, considering everything was made by hand, all of that added to the films charm.
GREAT FILM!
Posted by Crazyone on April 28th, 2009i agree with u crazyone it was great film tim burton is great. i want 2 see his new movie 9
Posted by joe on July 3rd, 2009This movie was mediocre. For all the visual craziness, I was astounded at how incredibly boring it was. I hated Coraline and didn’t care what happened to her. The movie left a lot of holes and misery behind it.
Posted by derrick on December 15th, 2009K so, shut the fuck up about all this emo talk.
People can dress how they fucking want, and if you ain’t got better shit to do with your life then talk about other people, you’re the fucking loser.
Go get youreself a fucking life instead of blabing about others.
SHUT UP.
Go fuck yourselves, let people live their lives.
Posted by kx. on January 7th, 2010Maybe they’re comfortable with the way they look, or the way they dress. And just cause you’re fucking insecure doesn’t mean you ened to project your insecurities upon others.
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