Wonderfully unsettling children’s fantasy about a girl who walks through a door in her new home and finds a parallel reality which initially appears to be an improvement over her present life. Fanciful, but also deeply eerie. Neil Gaiman’s animated adaptation of his international best-seller is a treat for the eyes and ears. An absolute stunning achievement in stop-motion animation and quite possibly the greatest 3D film ever made. Another classic from Henry Selick, the director of The Nightmare Before Christmas.
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I agree the movie has lots of the inventive and well executed (but overly grotesque) visual whimsy of the sort we’ve come to expect from Tim Burton and Henry Selick. But the writers let us down, I think.
The only compelling plot theme is the conflict between Coraline’s attachments to her unlikable real parents and to her attractive and pleasant, if rather mindless, “other” parents. When the other parents suddenly become more ugly and obnoxious than the real ones, the conflict goes out the window and all we have left is a long and routine escape-the-monsters conclusion. The other parents should have continued as they began and left the choice as presented (and as it does continue in better movies on this theme and in real life), between the aggravating uncertainties of freedom and individuality on the one hand, and the attractiveness of what-seems-to-be predictable security offered by an imposed homogenization of thought and action. Interesting that writers and movie makers almost universally support the first point of view in their creations and the latter in their politics.
*** SPOILERS ***
I was compelled by more than just her choice between the two realities. There were the stunning visuals, the creepy mood, some genuinely scary scenes and the interesting plot which I found quite fascinating. What you suggest is a different movie entirely. The one, as presented here, had conflict when the “other parents” became evil or rather showed their true nature. I didn‘t feel the conflict was over until she was back safe with her real parents at the end.
Whoa, whoa, whoa! I haven’t seen this, but I was surprised with how much you enjoyed it! I will make sure I see this one!
One of my favorite films of 2009