Coraline: NOT CAROLINE the review
Last weekend "Coraline," a movie adaptation of a book by Neil Gaiman of the same name, was released. It is directed by Henry Selick, who also directed "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and the film adaptation of Roald Dahl's "James and the Giant Peach." Selick likes to deal in stop motion animation so to speak and he is very good at his craft. "Coraline" is no different. So how does it stack up to his other works?
"Coraline" is a story about a girl named Coraline Jones, voiced by Dakota Fanning. She has recently moved into a new co-op of sorts with her two parents who ironically write a gardening catalogue but do not happen to like the physical act of gardening. Coraline's parents seem to be to wrapped up in their work and tell her to go explore. Her new neighbors are all rather eccentric; from the two former stage actresses, Miss Spink and Miss forcible, to a Russian who claims to be training a mice circus by the name of Mr Bobinsky, each has a unique look and quirky personality and happen to get Coraline's name wrong. Coraline also meets a boy named Wybie, who has befriended a stray black cat that becomes a friend of Coraline's as the film progresses.
Coraline explores her new home and finds a door, which upon first opening leads into nothing but a brick wall. However when Coraline is alone the bricks vanish and the door leads to an alternate world. The world is almost identical to her own except her "other mother and father" are loving and pay attention to her but all the residents of this world have black buttons sewn onto where their eyes should be. But everything in this world is what Coraline wants. But she soon realizes that things in this world are not what they appear to be.
Before I say anything else about the movie I want to say that it looks amazing! The movie looks phenomenal. From the colorful flowers to the dark rooms eveything just has this childish yet dark feel to them. Stop motion animation is something we really see very little of these days but Selick does it beautifully. The animations on all the characters match the dialogue and their respective moods at the time. All the environments are so unique and different yet somehow are still believable as part of the bigger world of the story. Even if the plot is not something that interests you the movie really is just a visual joy to watch.
I think all the voice actors for the film were cast very well. Sometimes there are cases when the voice of a character is nothing like you would expect from their physical appearance but in "Coraline" every sounds very well suited for the character they portray. I thought that Dakota Fanning did an especially good job in her portrayal of Coraline. She was believable; there was never a time during the film when I went "oh that's Dakota Fanning" it always sounded like just Coraline.
When I first saw the movie I absolutely loved it and thought it was better than the book. But the more I get to reflect on the thought the more indecisive I become about it. I still love the movie and think it's a great film. It's whether or not it surpasses the book that I begin to question myself about. The film retains the general story of the book however it takes a lot of artistic license in terms of locales and even adds a character that was not present in the book. There are some points when small changes are made to the story but nothing that takes away from the story that's being told.
When I first read the book it did not seem quite as whimsical and visually interesting as the movie turned out to be. I can understand some of the changes that were made to the film in order to make it visually more appealing. While the book was rather short the movie was a drawn out telling of the tale so at some points I thought the pacing really slowed down in the film. But because of the beauty of the animation the slow pacing wasn't really a problem.
My main problem with the film is that I'm not really sure if it really gets across the same message the book drove home so nicely. The message being that if you have everything you want and never have to suffer for a lack of something can that really be called happiness? Can you really appreciate living? The movie hints at the message but I'm not sure if it gets lost in all the beauty of the animation. The book drove it home by basically saying it flatout. The movie is far more subtle in that regard. But I'm starting to think that it was a bit too subtle and that a lot of people will not get it. So in that regard I think the book is better.
I also happen to think the book is a far darker story than the one told in the movie. In the film the "other mother" simply steals the eyes of the ghost children however in the book she actually steals their souls. In the film Coraline had a friend, Wybie. But in the book she is essentially alone with only the stray cat to help her. The book had a far more sinister and isolated feel to it.
"Coraline" is a great film. It looks beautiful and the story is interesting. I would definitely recommend it. Don't let the fact that it's animated fool you "Coraline" is not just a children's movie. I think if you go in with an open mind you will really enjoy the it. I was only able to see it in 2d but there is a 3d version which I can only imagine is even more amazing to look at. I believe that "Coraline" is the best film that Selick has directed to date.
And just a tip for those that choose to see it. Stay until the end of the credits you could be able to enter to win a limited edition custom pair of Nike sneakers made exclusively for the film and limited to only 1000 pairs. :)
"Coraline" is a story about a girl named Coraline Jones, voiced by Dakota Fanning. She has recently moved into a new co-op of sorts with her two parents who ironically write a gardening catalogue but do not happen to like the physical act of gardening. Coraline's parents seem to be to wrapped up in their work and tell her to go explore. Her new neighbors are all rather eccentric; from the two former stage actresses, Miss Spink and Miss forcible, to a Russian who claims to be training a mice circus by the name of Mr Bobinsky, each has a unique look and quirky personality and happen to get Coraline's name wrong. Coraline also meets a boy named Wybie, who has befriended a stray black cat that becomes a friend of Coraline's as the film progresses.
Coraline explores her new home and finds a door, which upon first opening leads into nothing but a brick wall. However when Coraline is alone the bricks vanish and the door leads to an alternate world. The world is almost identical to her own except her "other mother and father" are loving and pay attention to her but all the residents of this world have black buttons sewn onto where their eyes should be. But everything in this world is what Coraline wants. But she soon realizes that things in this world are not what they appear to be.
Before I say anything else about the movie I want to say that it looks amazing! The movie looks phenomenal. From the colorful flowers to the dark rooms eveything just has this childish yet dark feel to them. Stop motion animation is something we really see very little of these days but Selick does it beautifully. The animations on all the characters match the dialogue and their respective moods at the time. All the environments are so unique and different yet somehow are still believable as part of the bigger world of the story. Even if the plot is not something that interests you the movie really is just a visual joy to watch.
I think all the voice actors for the film were cast very well. Sometimes there are cases when the voice of a character is nothing like you would expect from their physical appearance but in "Coraline" every sounds very well suited for the character they portray. I thought that Dakota Fanning did an especially good job in her portrayal of Coraline. She was believable; there was never a time during the film when I went "oh that's Dakota Fanning" it always sounded like just Coraline.
When I first saw the movie I absolutely loved it and thought it was better than the book. But the more I get to reflect on the thought the more indecisive I become about it. I still love the movie and think it's a great film. It's whether or not it surpasses the book that I begin to question myself about. The film retains the general story of the book however it takes a lot of artistic license in terms of locales and even adds a character that was not present in the book. There are some points when small changes are made to the story but nothing that takes away from the story that's being told.
When I first read the book it did not seem quite as whimsical and visually interesting as the movie turned out to be. I can understand some of the changes that were made to the film in order to make it visually more appealing. While the book was rather short the movie was a drawn out telling of the tale so at some points I thought the pacing really slowed down in the film. But because of the beauty of the animation the slow pacing wasn't really a problem.
My main problem with the film is that I'm not really sure if it really gets across the same message the book drove home so nicely. The message being that if you have everything you want and never have to suffer for a lack of something can that really be called happiness? Can you really appreciate living? The movie hints at the message but I'm not sure if it gets lost in all the beauty of the animation. The book drove it home by basically saying it flatout. The movie is far more subtle in that regard. But I'm starting to think that it was a bit too subtle and that a lot of people will not get it. So in that regard I think the book is better.
I also happen to think the book is a far darker story than the one told in the movie. In the film the "other mother" simply steals the eyes of the ghost children however in the book she actually steals their souls. In the film Coraline had a friend, Wybie. But in the book she is essentially alone with only the stray cat to help her. The book had a far more sinister and isolated feel to it.
"Coraline" is a great film. It looks beautiful and the story is interesting. I would definitely recommend it. Don't let the fact that it's animated fool you "Coraline" is not just a children's movie. I think if you go in with an open mind you will really enjoy the it. I was only able to see it in 2d but there is a 3d version which I can only imagine is even more amazing to look at. I believe that "Coraline" is the best film that Selick has directed to date.
And just a tip for those that choose to see it. Stay until the end of the credits you could be able to enter to win a limited edition custom pair of Nike sneakers made exclusively for the film and limited to only 1000 pairs. :)
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