Coraline Movie Review

Coraline (2009)

Coraline - A dark fairy tale with amazing style.

Rent Coraline on Amazon Video
Written by:  Henry Selick (screenplay), Neil Gaiman (book)
Directed by: Henry Selick
Starring:   Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, John Hodgman, Keith David, Ian McShane
Rated: PG

Plot:
Coraline discovers a secret door in her new house to a world that's better than her own, but all is not as it seems.

Verdict:
This is an animated feature based on Neil Gaiman's 2002 book. It looks incredible. The style and detail in every frame is spectacular. It's a familiar story of a triumphant child well told, a modern and incredibly dark fairy tale. Coraline has to overcome a monster posing as an adult, and the button eyed people are surprisingly creepy.
Watch it.

Review:
The animation and stop motion work is amazing. Pause this movie anywhere and you'll get an amazing visual. Originally this was pitched as live action, and that would have really changed the tone and made this a lesser movie.
This movie is from Coraline's point of view, and she feels neglected by her parents. Based on what we see, she is ignored by them, but it feels like a one sided account. This is definitely not a kid's movie. It's dark in tone and content. The story isn't that unique, but the presentation helps it stand apart. It's well crafted. A large part of the sets was hand crafted, as are all the dolls.
The various cast of characters are well written too.

Coraline finds a small door under the wall paper, and upon opening it, she only discovers a brick wall. That night, she's awoken from sleep and opens the door to discover a portal. She finds an idealized world where her house is decorated nicely and her "other" mother and "other" father have time for her. All of the characters in this world have buttons for eyes, which is unnerving. Such a small detail has a big impact on the perception of these characters and the tone of the film.
This world is more than it seems, and a talking cat reveals to Coraline Other Mother's sinister intentions.  Other Mother wants Coraline to sew buttons on to her eyes so she can stay in the idealized world.

This is a fairy tale that feels inspired in part by Hansel and Gretel, though I can't confirm that. Both are rather dark, and have a similar plot.