Margie, Katherine and I went to see Coraline this afternoon. I’ve read the novella, so I had some idea of what to expect. Here’s the report.
Coraline (2009)
| Overall |  | Story |  |
| Production | | Acting | |
Story: This is a fine tale of selfishness, demanding relationships, sacrificing liberty for security (or even fun), and what parent-child love should (not) look like. It’s got bits for adults and for kids, and it provides thoughtful entertainment for all.
The screenplay by director Henry Selick is based on Neil Gaiman’s original 2002 novella and most of the differences have to do with punching up the visual wonderment and the end-of-movie action-suspense. It does so reasonably well, though it detracts a bit from Gaiman’s more subdued domestic horror. Given a choice between movie and book, I’d recommend both — but book first.
The film is rated PG, and rightly so. Katherine (at age 8) was fairly scared at the end, as the suspense and scary horror ratcheted up quite bit. She was nowhere near the youngest kid in the movie this afternoon, however. “Oh, it’s stop-motion, so it must be for kids.” right.
Production: That said, the stop-motion work in this movie is spectacular. Indeed, it is so fine that on those infrequent occasions when it’s obvious, it’s almost jarring. Visually, the movie is just stunning, in a fashion that could not be reproduced in any other medium (CGI or real life or a combination of the two).
The music is an interesting mix (an extensive sound track by “They Might Be Giants” was dropped save for a single song), and fits in with the mood of the piece — off-kilter, disturbing, creative — perfectly.
We saw the movie in its last weekend in 3D, and it was (as others have noted) well worth it. The 3D effects are not used as a substitute for a quality production, but to enhance it, and did so quite well.
Acting: It is a tribute to the quality of the animation (esp. with the solidity of stop-motion) that it is almost impossible to consider the voice acting separately. Suffice it to say that it was all marvelously acted.
Overall: Heartily recommended. I will definitely be getting the DVD when it comes out. I also recommend the official website for some fine behind-the-scenes bits.
Did you stay through the credits? I understand there’s an “Easter egg” there. (I heard this on NPR’s Science Friday, which had a segment on the new 3D technology.)
Yes, I did. The credits included some fun animation, and then there was a demonstration of how some of the spiffy art (the swirling jumping mice) was done, and then there was a note that, according to IMDB, opens up some info at the Coraline home site (though I couldn’t find where).