Coraline Review

Saw Coraline in 3D last night.

For the unfamiliar (how can you be, at this point?) Coraline is a story of a young girl dissatisfied with her parents, alone in a new town. And through a secret door, she finds the Other world, a perfect world of best meals, beautiful gardens, and constant games, strung together by her Other Mother. Except that this fantastic other world is a trap set to lure children away, for the Other Mother, the Beldam, to devour their lives and snatch their eyes.

If you like Henry Selick (Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach) you’ll like this. It’s very similar-but-not-same, visually, because he’s got a distinct style, though I see him pulling from the modern school of animation (which pulls from an almost-twenty-year-old pushing-boundaries school of animation) and integrating it with his style flawlessly.

Script is good. Voice acting is good. The story is well done and I feel stays very true to the book. My friends claimed it was scary, but I wasn’t that creeped out by it. They also claimed they wouldn’t take their children to it, but I would. It really wasn’t that frightening. Maybe at moments, but it’s okay for children to get scared once in awhile. Helps spinal development.

Now, I’m not entirely sold on the 3D concept. My friends were pretty stoked on it, but I’m not sure it impacted the movie-watching experience to the point that I’d insist people try to see it 3D. Still, the 3D tricks (things coming out at you) weren’t overused, and they weren’t used at poor moments, so the 3D definitely doesn’t detract at all. Simply a flavor choice, here.

In the end? Highly recommended. See and enjoy. Bring the kids.