Coraline Movie Review

Coraline and her negative parents

     The movie Coraline is an animated thriller about an adventurous young girl named Coraline, who discovers another world that is her dream version of her not so perfect home, but unfortunately it has dark hidden secrets. Director Henry Selicks adaptation of the 2002 novel by Neil Galman, has a somewhat dark and sinister portrayal of Coraline’s life. With the voice talents of Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, and John Hodgman this film is entertaining and aimed for a specific audience.

Coraline with her "other" parents

     The film begins when, Coraline moves to Oregon from Michigan. She settles into a dull apartment complex called the Pink Palace. Soon after they unpack, Coraline gets bored with her dreary new house and negative parents who pay little attention to her. So, being the adventurous girl she is, she wanders around and explores their new home. During her exploration she becomes friends with a boy named Wybie, who is the grandson of apartments’ landlady. Later that day Coraline receives a doll that oddly looks a lot like her that Wybie found. She discovers a small door hidden in a wall in her house. Unhappy with the fact that the door was sealed off by a brick wall, Coraline goes to bed. She is awakened by a mouse that leads her to the mysterious door, but instead of there being brick behind the door, it has become a portal. Coraline goes through it but finds herself in what seems to be her home. Little does she know that she is far from home, she is in a parallel version of her home. In this other world, her “parents” are called her other mother and other father (very original). The only obvious difference between the people in the other world and the normal one, is that they have black buttons for eyes. Her other parents are much more loving and caring than Coraline’s real parents. When Coraline falls asleep in the other world, she awakens in her old world. Coraline continues to go to the other world to escape her boring and depressing real life. After a couple of visits to the other world, Coraline’s other mother invites her to stay with them forever. Coraline enjoys the thought of staying with her other mother and father, until she finds out that she has to get buttons sewn over her eyes. After saying she doesn’t want to stay anymore, the other mother becomes angry and traps Coraline in the other world. Coraline escapes thanks to the other Wybie, but when she returns back home she comes to find that her parents have been kidnapped by the other mother. Coraline returns to the other world in hopes of saving her mom and dad. She plans to save them by tricking the other mother into playing a game with her. To keep the other mother from ever coming back into Coraline’s life, she drops the key to the small door, down the well. After this experience, Coraline is glad to have the parents and life she has.
     The film uses stop motion animation instead of modern computer generated imagery, giving the film a more realistic feel. The directors use of dark drab colors and different camera angles to give the film a unique horror film look.
     Additionally the musical score gives it that horror movie atmosphere and that combined with the directors creative use of angles, colors, and shapes make this a film that is appealing to audiences that don’t usually go to animated features.
     Overall I would give Coraline 4 out of 5 stars. But with it’s PG rating it is definitely not for young children. Older kids, teens, young adults would find Coraline a different and entertaining film.