AMB Reviews

Coraline: 8.5/10 Stars

Release Date: February 6, 2009

Content Advisory: Rated PG for thematic elements, scary images, some language and suggestive humor. The film retains a creepy tone throughout, and is not recommended for younger children. A woman dances with barely anything covering up her upper torso. Several jump scenes and creepy images, including several ghosts, humans with button eyes, and a group of dirty rats.

Review:

After reading the novel, "Coraline," and thoroughly enjoying it, I was rather excited when I heard the news that a film was coming out. That being said, movie adaptations usually intend to disappoint. What was the outcome? Hmmm... would it help if I told you that this film was even better than the book?

In Short: 

Coraline documents the story of a young girl named Coraline (voiced by the teen star, Dakota Fanning) who discovers a secret door in her bedroom. Opening it up, she finds a passageway to an alternate world that is exactly the same as the real world... except that it's perfect. But what starts out as a perfect fantasy for Coraline, soon turns out to be a deadly trap. This film starts off incredibly awkward and just plain slow, but ends up being a wondrous fantasy with awkward yet incredibly beautiful animation. It's a very weird, different, and truly unique film. It's labeled as a children's movie, but let me tell you straight up... it's a total lie. This movie is downright creepy and is most certainly not for the younger ones, no matter what the trailers make it out to be.

In Full: 

Coraline is based off the book by Neil Gaiman. It's a film with a truly original plot, about a young girl who, after moving into a new house, finds her life boring and dull. Her parents don't give her the time of day, the new kid in the neighborhood is obnoxious and goofy, and she most certainly isn't looking to starting up school again. That all changes however, when she discovers a small doorway in her bedroom that leads into an alternate world. It looks just like the real world, yet everything is perfect. There, she has an "other mother" and "other father" who, though are incredibly nice, have button eyes, rather than real eyes. And though at first the perfect world seems absolutely astounding to Coraline, she soon discovers that it is all a trap and that she is in grave danger. Danger from her other mother, who is so much more evil than she acts...

The voicing in this movie was nearly perfect. Though I really haven't heard of any of the actors or actresses who voiced the characters, with the exception of Dakota Fanning, they were all quite good. Dakota Fanning is concocting up quite some filmography, and this gem only adds to that. She voices Coraline wonderfully, giving her just the right touch. The rest of the cast is great as well, and their voicing only adds to this movie's pros.

The animation in this film was also wonderful. It wasn't Pixar and it wasn't quite Dreamworks. It was something stuck right in the middle, and, to be frank... was visually arresting. It started off somewhat annoying, though as the movie progressed, I really got into it. It's quite awkwardy, but it's awkwardly beautiful. The characters and sets really looked nothing like how I pictured them while reading the book, but all the same, it was quite fantastic. This movie is filled with a variety of weird creatures, and with the animation, it really ended up being truly phenomenal.

The only downer must have been the slow start. Though I do remember the book starting off somewhat slowly, it was quite a short read, so there wasn't much time for dawdling. Here, the movie is one hour and forty minutes long, giving them plenty of time to add in a bunch of random performances by imaginary creatures. The animation made it a little bit better, but it does begin somewhat slow. However, once it gets going... it really does get going, and grows truly suspenseful. I also found it unnecessary for one of the women in this film to dance in nothing but a bikini bottom and pasties, of all things, and was glad the film was animated when it reached that point. That, in itself, makes this movie inappropriate for the youngsters, despite the PG rating.

Coraline is a very creepy movie. I never thought I would say that about an animated, children's movie, but I am. It's unique, witty, goofy, awkward, gorgeous, scary, suspenseful, and just an overall great film. It also remains very faithful to the book, a pro that I was joyous to see. It's one that even adults will enjoy, with or without the kids in tow. It kept my interest throughout, after it moved past its somewhat slow beginning. I never thought the concept of "children's horror" could even exist, but Coraline proves that it does, and I'm loving it.