Coraline arrived in North American theatres over the February 6th weekend. The movie stars the voices of Dakota Fanning (as Coraline) and Teri Hatcher (as the mother).
The film is based on Neil Gaiman's short novel of the same title, which was first published in 2002. The book won several awards, including the Hugo and Nebula awards for best novella.
Plot Summary
Coraline is the story of a young girl who has just moved with her parents into a huge old house divided into a number of separate flats. Coraline – a bit of a brat, but with certain charm – is frustrated by her parents’ preoccupation with other things. They are both writers, absorbed by their work, and Coraline feels they don’t pay enough attention to her. She is also upset that her mother won’t let her do anything fun, like prancing through mud puddles in the rain.
Other aspects of the story include a local boy who annoys Coraline with his chatter and several peculiar neighbours who fail to ease Coraline’s boredom.
Then, while exploring the creaky old house, Coraline finds a small door. This door leads her to another world, a world that mirrors hers, but with important differences. In this new world Coraline’s “other mother” is in charge, and she lavishes love and attention upon Coraline. She wants Coraline to stay with her forever, to love and be loved.
But Coraline soon discovers that the other mother’s love is self-serving and dangerous. Coraline will be trapped in this other world unless she can outwit the other mother in a game to win her freedom and return to her own world.
The movie remains pleasingly true to the novel, and even where it diverts mildly in plot details, it retains the book’s spirit, its atmosphere and tone. This means that the movie, like the book, serves up a large portion of spookiness. It lacks the happy-go-lucky qualities of so many animated films and shows the world as an imperfect place.
Coraline is a 3D Movie Experience
Coraline is the first stop-motion animated film to be shot in 3D. This is tastefully done, giving viewers the entrancing sensation of being inside the world of the film along with Coraline and the other characters. The 3D in this instance is carefully used as a subtle effect; after a while the viewer forgets to notice it and the three dimensional aspect fades into the rest of the movie-watching experience. It adds to the story without distracting from it.
Two Thumbs Up
Overall, Coraline is a well-crafted story that has been made into a well-crafted film. While not suitable for very young children, it is a movie that older children and adults will all doubtless enjoy. Coraline is a different and fresh kind of animated film, with spunk, charm, and a spine-tingling serving of horror.
Natalia Heilke - Natalia Heilke is in her final term of a creative writing degree at the University of Victoria. Her focus is on short fiction, but she ...
