Having recently discovered the hugely original genius that is Neil Gaiman and knowing full well the awesomeness of The Nightmare Before Christmas, I was extremely excited to go see any movie that somehow linked the two. Coraline definitely didn't disappoint. Based on the novella and graphic novel by Gaiman, Coraline is the tale of a girl who discovers a secret door in her new house that leads to a more fantastic and satisfying, but ultimately sinister, version of her home, complete with altered reflections of her family and neighbors. As she sinks deeper into this world we see the danger she is in long before it forces her to uncloud her eyes and play the heroine. I won't ruin the details of the story for you, so suffice to say that it's deep and original. No PG rated movie I've seen before has so earnestly demanded scrutiny by parents before taking kids to see it. It goes far past surreal to eventually border on twisted and terrifying. I noted with no small satisfaction that the group of 5-9 year olds a few rows behind me who'd been chattering at the beginning of the movie were crying and whimpering by the end. The style that lent itself so well to Nightmare and Corpse Bride does at least as well in this fairy tale gone horribly wrong. The fact that I saw it in 3D made it even more of a visual treat. I'm glad that I'm around to see so promising a star as Dakota Fanning rise in Hollywood's ranks as she proves again that she has a remarkable well of talent. The supporting voice cast is all good with Keith David standing out as the cat with his instantly recognizable gravelly voice. Anyone else give this a go? The fact that it's not in 3D anymore doesn't change the fact that I'd highly recommend it. If any of my friends who missed it last time decided to give it a try I'd go again in an instant.
It might still be playing in 3D in some places, but they were advertising that last weekend was the last chance. I guess they just did the first few weeks in 3D so people who weren't interested could see it normally. It's a great film in its own right, though.
I really want to see it, I can't believe everything was stop motion animation! And every single thing was made by hand!
Good review. I saw it with my girlfriend in 3D, it was a lot of fun. Really beautiful artistically and the story was compelling as well. adforester, that's amazing! I thought it was CGI for sure.
