Mesmerizing ‘Coraline’ is a technical wonder
The following is a reprint of my 2009 review of “Coraline” for The Patriot Ledger:
Prepare to be dazzled by ”Coraline,” an eye-popping 3D experience that takes the art of stop-motion animation to a heightened level of creativity and ingenuity.
Sure, they’re puppets molded of silicone and latex, but onscreen they’re living, breathing characters with viable souls and emotions.
Those traits are enhanced tenfold by the judicious use of advanced 3D technology that provides intimacy so palpable there are times you’d swear you could reach out and grab them.
That accessibility, unfortunately, doesn’t always extend to a story by novelist Neil Gaiman (”Mirrormask”) that blends elements of ”Alice in Wonderland” and ”The Wizard of Oz” into a mish-mash of underdeveloped subplots and ideas.
Having not read the book, I’m uncertain if the blame for that should rest with Gaiman or director Henry Selick (”The Nightmare Before Christmas”), who adapted ”Coraline” for the screen. Either way, it’s the difference between ”Coraline” being an instant classic and a pleasant diversion.
Yet, there is much here to admire, beginning with Dakota Fanning’s fluidity in giving voice to Coraline Jones (the name no doubt an ode to Caroline Jones, star of the similarly macabre ”Addams Family”), a lonely, blue-haired 11-year-old who recently relocated to a small Oregon town with her workaholic parents voiced by Teri Hatcher and ”Daily Show” contributor John Hodgman.
With no friends, unless you count her weird chatterbox neighbor Wybie (Robert Bailey Jr.), and no adults willing to pay attention, Coraline, understandably compensates by investing in her vivid imagination, which combined with her insatiable curiosity leads her to the discovery of a secret passageway.
Awaiting on the other side of the twisty conduit is a parallel universe that mirrors her real life. The only difference is that now everyone dotes on her, including her Other Father and Other Mother (also voiced by Hodgman and Hatcher), both doppelgangers of her real parents except for the ominous-looking black buttons sewn over their eyes.
It’s Coraline’s first clue that something’s amiss in this seemingly perfect world filled with beautiful gardens of dancing flowers, acrobatic circus mice and a couple of endearingly eccentric vaudevillian sisters (voiced by Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French) eager to put on a show.
Coraline’s suspicions only grow stronger with subsequent visits to the Other World, visits that eventually teach her the meaning of being careful of what you wish for.
It’s a solid lesson for children, to be sure. But it still feels pat and obligatory. It’s a liability heightened by Hatcher’s failure to provide any sense of menace as Other Mother, the alleged villain of the piece. One can’t help but imagine how much more fun ”Coraline” might have been with Glenn Close (”101 Dalmatians”) or Meryl Streep (”The Devil Wears Prada”) in Hatcher’s stead.
As much as her lack of gravitas hampers the movie, it’s never enough to overshadow the brilliance of the animation, each frame more fantastical than the next.
The sight of the dexterous mice spinning and twirling with their elasticized master, Mr. Bobinsky (Ian McShane), alone makes the film worthwhile. But there are at least a dozen more sequences that are nearly as jaw-dropping, all opportunistically popping up whenever the story threatens to lose momentum.
It’s a godsend that not only saves the movie, it sends a loud message that you don’t need a bank of computers to create alluring animation, just a willingness to indulge the imagination. Something this ingratiating bit of puppet love does in spades.
Movie review
Coraline
Rated: PG for some language, suggestive humor, scary images and thematic elements
Cast: Voices of Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, John Hodgman, Ian McShane and Robert Bailey Jr.
Director: Henry Selick
Writer: Henry Selick
Runtime: 100 minutes
Where: Back in theaters now
Grade: B+
