Coraline Review

By now you must have heard all the fine reviews this little film is getting and, if you haven’t seen it, you may still be a bit hesitant about heading out to see it.

Is it everything people are saying about it?

In my opinion, yes and no.  (And I guess I should go ahead and admit off the bat that I haven’t read Neil Gaiman’s original novel.)

Coraline, first and foremost, is beautiful to watch.  Like any good stop-motion animated picture, it’s like watching a dream.  The story it tells is pretty interesting as well… at least to an extent.  The premise of finding a small doorway to a parallel world is intriguing, and the subsequent twists and turns that follow are nice as well.  Various parts of the movie, however, just feel rushed.  Wybie, the guy that Coraline reluctantly hangs with, could have been a good, worthy character.  Instead, he’s used simply as a plot device and the story never really stops to allow us to connect with him, which is sad because Wybie’s a good guy, and Coraline isn’t necessarily a good girl.

The entire third act of the story, though, runs by a little too fast — Coraline figures things out a little too quickly and the final struggle with the Other Mother’s hand just seems tacked on, especially since the climax has already came and went.  And as for the climax itself, well, we only know its the climax because the story tells us, not because it packs much punch.

And I suppose that’s my biggest beef with the movie: even when it’s being creepy, it’s still playing it safe.  Sure it’s a PG movie, but it’s a nontraditional one, and a nontraditional movie should always aim to do more than just follow a formula.

The tagline is appropriate — “Be Careful What You Wish For” — albeit a little trite.  And I suppose that’s an appropriate way to look at the picture.  As far as the story is concerned, it’s nothing you haven’t heard before.  The real treat, however, is the direction of the film’s director, Henry Selick, who I’m sure you must know did The Nightmare Before Christmas — and yes, I’m a firm believer that Selick was the real genius behind that picture, not Tim Burton.

But please, don’t let me put you off from seeing this film.  The story is cliche, yes, but the characters are fun to watch and I especially found Wyborn’s cat quite interesting.  And it’s always nice to marvel at how detailed the various props, characters, and settings have been crafted as well.

Go enjoy it.