Reviewed by Lamar Kukuk
2/15/09
I don't have any kids, and
haven't been one (for the purposes of this discussion, when I say “kid”,
I'm not talking teenagers) for about 25 years. As such, I've been
known to be a bit of an alarmist when it comes to what's “too scary for
kids”. But suffice it to say that Coraline, the latest stop-motion
animated feature from Nightmare Before Christmas director Henry
Selick, is pretty much the scariest thing that's ever been rated PG.
It's also the honest-to-goodness Masterpiece of his art form, a brilliant
horror fairy tale (based on a book by Neil Gaiman) both terrifying and
magical. Digital 3D (care of RealD) proves a natural for the stop-motion
world, making its' detail and texture all the more remarkable. I
spent most of this great, great movie on the edge of my seat, the kids
should take Gaiman's advice that, if it gets too scary, “hold Mom's hand.”
Young Coraline Jones (voice
of Dakota Fanning) has just moved, along with her Mother (Teri Hatcher)
and Father (John Hodgman), to a creepy old house duplexed off to include
aging showgirls Miss Spink (Jennifer Saunders) and Miss Forcible (Dawn
French) in the basement and mouse trainer Mr. Bobinsky (Ian McShane) on
the other side. The Jones parents write gardening articles, although
they're much too busy to actually garden, or to pay attention to their
daughter. The closest thing she makes to a friend is annoying local
kid Wybie (Robert Bailey Jr.), who's always accompanied by a feral Cat.
Boredom drives Coraline to investigate the house, and that investigation
leads her to a small door that's been sealed off and locked. Once
opened, it reveals a magical tunnel that leads to an alternate version
of her own house. There, everything is more colorful, fantastical
and fun. Her “Other Mother” and “Other Father” (also Hatcher and
Hodgman) dote over her relentlessly, bake amazing meals and tend a magical
garden. Only one thing about them: instead of eyes, they've
got buttons sewn on their heads. Coraline slides back and forth between
worlds freely for a while and the banality of her own continues to be dwarfed
by the wonders of the Other. The Other tenanats put on magical shows,
and Other Wybie doesn't speak: Other Mother took care of that.
But the Cat is in this world too, and here he speaks (voice of Keith David).
He tells Coraline that all is not as it appears, and by the time she realizes
the truth, not only is her life in danger, but those of her real parents
as well.
First thing's first: Coraline
looks amazing, as Selick continues to perfect his stop-motion craft.
The figures are remarkably expressive and combine with first-rate vocal
performances to create characters who seem vibrantly alive. The Other
side is a tremendous, totally imaginative fantasy world twice over.
First, when it lays its' seductive trap for Coraline, it's a Technicolor
land of magical miracles, complete with living toys, giant robot grasshoppers
and a happy singing garden. Then, once the truth becomes known, it's
a rotten world, the people in it like dolls only ¾ stuffed, a smile
sewn onto Other Wybie's face, those same plants now dying and sinister.
Dolls make a great theme for the residents of the Other world since everything
in a stop-motion movie is, in essence, one itself. But even the living
things on the Other side are nasty: mice of the happy world are rats
in its' real counterpart, and the Other Mother grows less and less human
and more and more arachnoid. RealD does its' part, making everything
remarkably lifelike and showing off the attention to minute detail in the
sets and characters wonderfully. And that tunnel that connects the
worlds (again, vibrantly colorful at first, overgrown with cobwebs and
dirt later) is a visual treat.
But Coraline's not
just another pretty piece of animation. The plot is as strong as
it is ghoulish, a first-rate ghost story with an otherworldly beast looking
to lure away children with the promise of love and cake. Feisty,
self-reliant Coraline is a great role model for kids, and a great point
of identification for anybody. The way the story and images ping
the horrors of childhood, intermixed with more universal horrors like (ulp)
getting something sewn over your eyes is quite impressive and keeps the
thrills coming. While your kid is holding your hand, you might want
to hold theirs right back.
The vocal performances are
wonderful. It's been a great week for Fanning that saw the release
of both Coraline and Push: once again,
she shows herself very capable of making the transition from cute kid to
relateable teen. Hatcher excels as nasty characters, and the Other
Mother is a movie ghoul for the ages. Hodgman (best known as the
PC from the Mac TV ads) has a great turn as the Other Father, who seems
ghoulishly trapped in this fantasy rather than a willing participant, and
David's relentlessly cool vocal stylings make the Cat both awesome and
sinister like a good fairy tale critter should be. Fans of British
TV will get a real kick out of hearing French and Saunders together again
as the loopy old ladies in the basement, and McShane is fun as the crazy
Russian guy who talks to mice (no, really, he does!).
Coraline is the best
yet of the new wave of 3D movies, one that would no doubt play well even
in the 2D version being released in many theaters. Selick seems to
have found perfect co-conspirators both in the format and the source material
of one of our top fantasy writers. In the process, he's created one
of the all-time great kids' horror movies, one that might make an adult
or two ponder sleeping with the lights on as well. |
