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Coraline (2009)
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Movie Review by Jarrod
February 12th, 2009
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'Coraline' is a brilliantly dark and twisted animated film, probably too terrifying for children, or at least younger children, but then its gothic atmosphere is to be expected, since it comes from Henry Selick, who directed The Nightmare Before Christmas, and is now adapting a novel from Neil Gaiman. An astounding amount of work went into this movie, with each frame and effect lovingly and painstakingly crafted, creating an immersive landscape populated with memorable, unique characters. As a 3-D experience, I can safely say it is, at least at the moment, unrivaled. Our attention can be drawn to each individual detail, and the richly imaginative visual style. Coraline Jones (Dakota Fanning), has just moved from Michigan to Oregon, into a three-story duplex, with her often neglectful parents, so caught up in their work that they have little time to spend with her.
Kept indoors by the rainy and cold weather, she decides to embark on a thorough exploration of her new surroundings, and discovers a portal hidden behind a doorway, which opens at night, and transports her to an alternate reality, which initially seems joyous and colorful, and she meets kinder, more attentive versions of her parents, notably Mother (Teri Hatcher), along with a talking cat (Keith David), and Wybie (Robert Bailey Jr), the obnoxious, overly talkative neighbor boy, has, in this world, been rendered mute. There's a beautiful garden, succulent food, former actresses Miss Spink (Jennifer Saunders) and Miss Forcible (Dawn French) are now slimmer, younger, and prettier, and Russian acrobat Mr. Bobinsky (Ian McShane) puts on thrilling circus shows with his pet mice. However, things eventually turn scary and bleak; we notice the Other Mother has black buttons for eyes, and that her cheerful personality masks her true nature as a hideous monster. And she is determined not to let Coraline go.
The flick is packed with creepy imagery, flourishes undoubtedly added by Selick, who otherwise lets the plot unfold without a lot of superfluous distractions. I like how he does not feel the need to inject any lame one-liners or bathroom humor into the proceedings, and many animated features do, forcing comedy into situations where it does not belong, simply because it is thought that kids will enjoy it.
Some liberties have been taken with the source material apparently, but the underlying themes of Gaiman's original story remain intact. The voice acting is uniformly excellent; notable, of course, is the delightful Fanning, but most effective of all is Teri Hatcher, who vibrantly brings to life each distinctive incarnation of Coraline's mother. Coraline starts out as an unhappy teen, dissatisfied with her life, and wishing for a better one, and once she finds it, it teaches her a valuable lesson about the life she has left behind, and how she misses her real parents. Kids can relate to this, but may wonder why the lesson is accompanied by such horrifying experiences.
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 | Just
Mar 22, 2009 1:47 AM
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| i loved this movie it was so good, wasnt there two people who did nightmare before christmas? coz i thought it twas the other director who did this one? haha i dont know |
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