Coraline

Review by Sean Lynch

A stop-motion animated feature (the first to be originally filmed entirely in 3D), based on the international best-selling book by Neil Gaiman, with the director of A Nightmare Before Christmas...

Coraline - where have you been all my life!!?

If it's weird and wonderful you are after, then look no further than Coraline. It follows a young girl (Dakota Fanning) who walks through a secret door in her new home and discovers an alternate version of her life. 

On the surface, this parallel reality is eerily similar to her real life - only much, much better.

But when this wondrously off-kilter, fantastical adventure turns dangerous and her counterfeit parents (including her button eyed "Other Mother" played to Desperate Housewives perfection by Teri Hatcher) try to keep her forever, Coraline must count on her resourcefulness, determination, and bravery to get back home.

Having barely scraped a passing grade for 2001's Monkeybone (an all-star shocker starring, a then popular, Brendan Fraser), it is wonderful to see visionary director Henry Selick find his feet with Coraline.

Each moment here is pitch perfect, with a wonderful blend of majestic creepiness and bizarre imagination that manages to both intimidate and excite.

Think Frosty The Snowman (you know, those classic stop motion epics they show at Christmas) but on a really bad "trip".

It's nearly impossible to accurately capture the overwhelming sensations of dreams on screen (sure, people have tried... but it always seems to end up being a lame bunch of weird edits, bright lights and soft focus), yet somehow Selick manages to maintain that unnerving sense of warmth and utter isolation that always seems to engulf us when we dream.

The use of the 3D technology is also spectacular, with minimal exploitation of cheesy stunts (EG: Things poking out of the screen) and a strong concentration and focus on the intricate depth and textures the technology supplies the audience.

Each strand of wool, centimetre of clay and splinter of wood feel so wondrously close and real - it's a true testament to the ever-expanding 3D trend.

The voice talent assembled here is also wonderful, not simply going for big names - but the right actors. A real highlight comes in the form of Coraline's "Other Father" (John Hodgman - aka. the "PC" guy from the Mac ads) whose vocal talents are enticing and frightening at the same time.

While younger kids may find this one a little too creepy and weird (it borders on nightmarish at times - which is strange, as apparently the film has toned down the "scariness" of the book), adults will be swept away in the adventure.

The easy thing would be to suggest that Coraline is "Alice In Wonderland as seen by Tim Burton's warped mind"... but with Burton about to release his version of Alice In Wonderland (which looks nothing like this), Coraline by default takes on a wonderfully unique style of it's own.

If you've been craving that sense of spooky, nostalgic whimsy that only 1985's Return To Oz can supply, then get your butt to see Coraline in 3D... you won't be disappointed , because this one's right on the button.

4.5 out of 5

Coraline
Australian release: 6th August, 2009
Official Site: Coraline
Cast: Teri Hatcher, Ian McShane, Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Saunders
Director: Henry Selick