Review: Coraline

Coraline (2009)
starring voices: Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, Kieth David, John Hodgman, Ian McShane
dir. Henry Selick


I'm goona keep this one simple. It's too long and there is something very small that is missing that makes me not really care about Coraline getting to the end of her adventure. I think that has to do with it being too long. Running at an hour forty-five, this sucker would have been much better had it fallen in the 75-80 minute range. The drag starts kicking in around 90 minutes and they just keep piling on event after event, climax after climax. It is a common problem that should start being called LOTR syndrome.

Other than that, it's a pretty magical and beautiful film. It's filled with great character and set designs, some really nice voice work, especially by Kieth David, and a musical score that blends fantasy, chaos and that gothic touch that holds a twinge of Franz Waxman.

This is not for little kids. I was floored by how many parents were there with three and five year old kids. I was not floored by the amount of crying, screaming and demands to leave out of fear I heard during the movie. Come on parents, watch a preview, think a little, be a responsible adult and responsible movie goer. Don't take the little ones to see it, this is for the 10 and up set. Tweener girls will give it a big thumbs up. I'd much rather see fleets of girls in Coraline hoodies and backpacks than some damned Nightmare Before Christmas accoutrement. This far exceeds Selick's previous work and makes up quite a bit for the Monkeybone (2001) debacle from a few years back.

I'm still not sold on the latest 3-D craze. I can see it working with slasher films that hurl axes or machetes at the viewer. It looks fine here, but I was much more interested in the look and design of the film rather than the distance between fireplace and chair. I don't want my movies built around a gimmick, I want the story and the characters. 3-D seems to limit creativity rather than add another dimension to it. (Yes, bad pun intended.)

Not being a 13 year old girl, I'll not revisit this film as often as others, but it is well made despite time span flaws and is such a breath of fresh air to watch a form of animation that has a level of tangibility to it rather than an electronically added drop shadow.

8 out of 10