Escaping to a better plot eh?
Today we talk about Coraline. A movie, that myself and I am sure many movie goers have been looking forward to for the past year. Unfortunately, I have some terrible news to report. If you were hoping to see a stop-motion animated movie of the caliber of Nightmare Before Christmas you will be pleasantly un-surprised. Coraline is a beautiful achievement for animation [especially stop-motion], and it was quite a joy to see this movie in 3-D. The cons out weigh the pros, the story is almost as 'by-the-numbers' gets and the more interesting character [because there is really only one] is not fleshed out to any degree. Coraline is not creepy. It is not intriguing. It is a slow moving bore of a movie.
Wow...the setting is a drab as the parents...
The movie Coraline is based off of a book written, by the man who appears to be everywhere, Neil Gaiman. It follows a fairly typical storyline. A young girl has two working parents who are much too busy to notice that she disappears into a whimsical universe for hours at a time. The mom, played by Teri Hatcher and dad, played by John Hodgman are two of the most uninteresting characters in the movie. They are focused on their internets and their...well...that is really all they give you about the characters. For one of the more obvious fore-shadowing plot points, these parents of Coraline [Dakota Fanning] are made extra vanilla in order for you the audience to be 'all about' Coraline venturing off to unexplored lands.
As a family, The Jones' move into an odd apartment complex [which appears to be in the middle of nowhere]. The complex holds some of the more interesting characters. However, by comparison, anything is more interesting than the characters that have already been introduced. Coraline meets an annoying boy named Wybie, who appears to have a knack for gadgets and a knowledge of what this mysterious door Coraline has stumbled upon. Wybie also has the ability to ramble on for a smidge too long about explaining a character's sub-text out loud.
Oh Wybie...please stop being annoying.
If you are one of the unfortunate that is not swayed by this review to 'wait for the DVD', then a good suggestion would be to watch the movie in 3-D. There are few moments where the animators 'go all Beowulf' and try throwing crap at your eyes with the hopes that something will stick. This is the absolute best animated movie I have seen out of Henry Selick and the rest of the Tim Burton crew. For every two or three awful moments in Coraline, there is one really solid small technical achievement. Coraline is the longest stop-motion animated movie ever. It is a real shame that it has one of the most mediocre stories attached to its technical acclaim.
If you are a parent and you are wondering if the story or imagery will be 'too creepy' then fear not! You will be happy [or disappointed] to know that not even a 5-year-old would be frightened of this movie. This was opening weekend for the movie and it was a packed theater. I had a family in front of me and one directly beside me...both left of boredom.
When Things Got Real...It Got Videogamey
One of the bigger compliments in Coraline's favor, would be when things supposedly 'got creepy'. Nearing the end of the movie Coraline has to make a decision, whether to stay with her real parents or with her 'other parents'. This is the part where children are supposed to be frightened, however showing old women who have no problem revealing how comfortable they are with their bodies should probably be the scariest moment for any parent and child [you may have to avert the youth's eyes]. Oddly enough, this other dimension Coraline ventures into has the best design, better characters [again by comparison] and a more-often-than-not clearer message to hammer over the audience's head.
If it has not been said in other reviews, Coraline is extra 'video gamey' at the end. Like many children stories there is usually 'one object' the main character has to find in order to solve a puzzle, but in Coraline she almost literally is given the script of Zelda. She is granted a tool that makes things WAY TO EASY for her to accomplish her tasks. She has to fight 'bosses' in order to climb the ladder of escaping this otherwise, really awesome world. I am very surprised I did not see a final score prior to the credits rolling.
Think about it people 11 dollars [minimum] just to see a movie that has all the polish of an epic, but all the plot of a straight to DVD action movie. Do yourself a favor and wait for the DVD. Hopefully the actual video game will translate better seeing as the story appears to more well-suited for this media.
I give Coraline...
A Blanket & Pillow