Regarding Coraline

Hello The Internet.

So I finally saw Coraline, but after some thought, Ezra's review is far too generous. I left the theater completely unimpressed. The following is a bit of a counter-review.

Ok, yes, Coraline does have some of the best, if not the best stop-motion I have ever seen. Coraline's hair, though it may sound strange to note, was really well done. As a person who has produced stop-motion films before, I can appreciate the amount of work that went into creating this movie.

However, just because the movie is beautiful to look at DOES NOT mean it is a good movie. I think Transformers was evidence of this. There HAS to be something more. The storyline must keep up with the visuals.

Coraline doesn't have this. The story is very, very poor. Almost nothing is explained - at all. Things need explanation. Now, I have heard that Neil Gaiman's novel, off of which the film is based, also doesn't explain much, and that this is typical of his novels. However, I saw Stardust, and they did a great job of making everything very clear and precise. Coraline's story is so poor that it makes me want to distance myself from everything that happens.

Beyond the shoddy story, the characters are extremely unlikeable. I liked Mr. Bobinsky, but that was it. The two old women were not funny - just annoying. Coraline herself is not very likable either. Though I do feel bad for because she has the two worst parents ever, there's nothing about her I can relate to. Who knows, maybe this is because I love my parents. I also didn't like the movement of most of the characters - they were too lanky and cartoony.

BUT THAT'S NOT ALL! There's even more things about this film that I didn't like. There seems to be two conflicting things going on in Coraline. For one, it seems like Selick wanted this movie to appeal to little kids, and he made it a little "kiddie". This is fine, don't get me wrong. Little kids deserve movies just as much as anyone else. However, about halfway through, like Ezra said, the movie becomes very dark, and frankly, very creepy. There's one moment in particular that made me shiver as would any horror film. You simply can't have these two conflicting ideas in one film, let alone an animated one.

Sorry Ezra, but this incredibly mediocre movie does not deserve a 4. No not at all. In fact, I think I'll slap this with what it deserves, in a big, new, TMW design:

Review: CORALINE

Let's keep this short and sweet.

Coraline is the 4th film from Director Henry Selick (Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach, Monekybone), and it is based on a book by Neil Gaiman.

Guillermo del Toro's Animated Remake of The Witches Set to Terrify New Generation of Third Graders

The 1990 film version of the Roald Dahl book, "The Witches" featured some crafty mouse puppets from the Jim Henson company, a bald incarnation of Angelica Huston, an early Rowan Atkinson, and a fair amount of near child nudity towards the end. I remember a good amount of deep emotional scars from the film between seeing it once in third grade and again on a Saturday afternoon on the late UPN network.

The upcoming remake of the film will be shot entirely with stop-motion animation and will be directed by Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth, Hellboy & Hellboy II) with Alfonso Cuarón (Children of Men, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) maintaining a producing role backstage. The project started back in 2006 when Cuarón and Del Toro discussed collaborating on a film adaption of a Roald Dahl book. Soon after Del Toro wrote up the screenplay for it.

There is no date set for this project, and with Guillermo del Toro's upcoming adaptation of "The Hobbit", it's hard to judge when we'll actually get to see anything from this movie. If Corpse Bride and Coraline are any indication, stop-motion animation has come a long way in recent years.


Above is the trailer for the original film. Though someone has also uploaded the entire film onto YouTube but there's a good chance that will be removed due to the obvious copyright violation.

Upcoming Film: Coraline

Coming soon from director Henry Selick (Nightmare Before Christmas, Monkeybone, and James and the Giant Peach) is an all new soon to be animated classic - Coraline. Coraline tells the story of a girl who has a terribly boring life and one day stumbles into an alternate reality where everything is perfect. But as we all know, nothing is as perfect as it seems.

Once again, Henry Selick's fantastic stop motion animation team comes together to show us a world full of imagination and excitement. I think it looks like a solid mix of "Being John Malchovich and Alice in Wonderland". Based on a book by Neil Gaiman (Stardust), and with a cast including Keith David, Dakota Fanning, and Terri Hatcher, this film looks to be fantastic. But don't take my word for it - Watch the trailer below!




Coraline will release limited on December 19, 2008, and worldwide on February 6, 2009.