Movie Review: “Coraline”
“Coraline”
Rating: 78
Henry Selick’s “Coraline” is wickedly beautiful, the stuff of baroque childhood nightmares that cling in our adult minds years later. Adapted by Selick from Neil Gaiman’s novel, this stop-motion animated film rises to the level Selick achieved in his ’90s classics, “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and “James and the Giant Peach.”
Coraline Jones (voiced by Dakota Fanning) is a bored pre-teen who moves into a dilapidated mansion with her bitter, overworked parents (voiced by Teri Hatcher and John Hodgman), two garden writers who have little time for their sarcastic daughter. Stir-crazy and looking for anything to spice up her drab life, Coraline snoops around the house and discovers a small door behind some tattered wallpaper.
What Coraline finds behind that door seems like the answer to all her problems: an Other Mother and Other Father who cook wonderful meals, play piano and cater to her every whim. The only difference is that these better versions of her parents have buttons for eyes, and all Coraline’s neighbors, including a pair of theatrical spinster sisters and a retired circus performer, have turned into peculiar versions of themselves.
But when Coraline thinks she wants to live there, the Other Mother tells her the only way she can stay is if she sews buttons on her eyes. This dream world quickly turns macabre as Coraline discovers that her real parents are imprisoned and she must defeat the Other Mother to save them.
Selick is the standard-bearer for stop-motion animation, which was pioneered by Willis O’Brien (“King Kong”) and Ray Harryhausen (“Jason and the Argonauts”). His creations have a spark of life and artistry that is distinct from their computer-animated Pixar brethren — they move like herky-jerky puppets, not real-life beings. Gaiman’s malevolent children’s story is a perfect fit for Selick’s off-kilter sensibility, and while this is not for small children, adults who never fully grew up will relish every moment inside the Other world of “Coraline.”
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Comments
Actually, I think Neil Gaiman gave the best answer to this question:
“Someone asked me last week if Coraline would be an appropriate film for their six-year-old son. I don’t know. That’s like asking me if their six-year-old would like mushroom soup. I don’t know the kid and so I have no idea what is appropriate for him.”
it means a lot that you like this. i am hopefully going to see it this weekend. is the warren theatre the only place to see it in 3-D? didn’t know if you were privy to that. thanks!