May 2009
<< Back

Coraline (PG)
Printed 6th May 2009

One of the two bastion’s of stop-motion animation (the other being Nick “Wallace & Gromit” Park), there’s no doubting Henry Selick’s skill at bringing unique-looking ‘toons to the big screen. Like his stylistic contemporary Tim Burton however, perhaps it’s time to change the record?

A lesser stop-mo than previous Selick’s The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach, Coraline is the emo-tastic story of a precocious but lonely girl (voiced by the ubiquitous Dakota Fanning) who finds a secret door in her new home that leads to a parallel version of her own world – only much better. At first seeming like a “dream come true”, things soon take a turn for the sinister (of course) when her button-eyed Other Mother (Teri Hatcher) tries to trap Coraline in the Other World forever and she is left to draw upon all her ingenuity and courage in order to puzzle her way out of a sticky and scary situation.

So in other words it’s just stuff we’ve seen countless times before, both in terms of story – girl escapes tedium of real life by escaping into fantasy world, which later turns nasty – and Burtonesque Gothic tone, most notably recalling Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands and, of course, Corpse Bride (itself inspired by Nightmare Before Christmas).

And that’s Coraline’s main problem, it’s nothing we haven’t seen before. Even the incontestably outstanding, CGI-augmented, painstakingly-produced stop-motion work is somewhat underwhelming (and the 3D doesn’t work half as well here as other straight CGI anime’s such as Bolt & Monsters vs. Aliens that have also utilised it recently) because it’s just a variation of Selick’s well worn theme. But then perhaps Selick shouldn’t be criticised for this, after all the animation style is his... well... style and those that love him (as those that love Burton for essentially reproducing the same movie over and over again) will undoubtedly leave happy.

Those less in love with Selick’s style might be less impressed though, perhaps finding Coraline just a bit been there, seen that, ho hum, hey ho, that has been done better by obvious inspiration Alice in Wonderland and more recent (and superior) live-action contemporary Pan’s Labyrinth.

***