Review for Coraline

Director: Henry Selick

Released: 2009
Genre: Animation

I have recently decided to review only one movie per director as I post entries for this site. After finishing my last entry, I realized that I have yet to critique two movies from the same director- something that was heretofore completely unintentional. Now, I am going to try to see a hundred films from a hundred directors. I will call it the "Hundred Movies Campaign." Such a directive will require me to be much more discerning when it comes to watching features- for a good while, I will have to settle for less than fantastic movies from second rate directors (such as Chris Columbus), third rate directors (such as Zack Snyder), and fourth rate directors (such as Uwe Boll).

When I was offered to see Coraline last night, I was hesitant; I immediately remembered that Tim Burton was possibly involved in the project. Many people, including me, have assumed that Burton directed Coraline, based on its somewhat creepy but approachable visuals, since Burton has forever typecast himself in that regard. However, Henry Selick directs this time around- though he may as well be a metaphysical extension of Burton, as the two have worked on several claymation/stop motion films together, such as The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach.

The movie tells the story of Coraline, a young girl who is dissatisfied with her droll life and distant parents. When Coraline's family moves into an impressively large and grimy Victorian era mansion, things seem to take a turn for the worse- that is, until Coraline discovers a small door that leads to another world, filled with everything the girl wants but does not have. Everything seems wonderful in this "other world," until Coraline's "other mother" reveals her true, less than wonderful self. From that point on, Coraline must do everything in her power to return to her normal life, which makes for some pretty exciting action scenes, or as the MPAA would say, "scenes of mild peril."

Technically speaking, Coraline is a landmark picture, and has many firsts to its credit; it is the first stop motion film to be shot entirely in 3-D; it is the the first movie to feature a stop motion animated morphing sequence; it is the longest stop motion film to date, at 106 minutes in length; the list goes on and on. The team of animators involved in this project have this style of animation down to a fine science, and needless to say, the result is impressive.

That being said, Coraline sets more of a stylistic benchmark than anything- the story is interesting and the pacing surprisingly relaxed, but I feel the plot takes a back seat to the finely crafted and intensely detailed world in which Coraline exists. Selick has yet to trump his own directorial magnum opus, The Nightmare Before Christmas. It is still a good feature, though... just is not as endearing as it should be.

3.00/4.00