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Coraline – what do the critics think?
Coraline is in theatres now and we have brought together the opinions of those that have been lucky enough to watch it… and a big thumbs up is the verdict!
“This is a marvelous family story, tapping into all sorts of childhood dreams and nightmares involving Mommy, monsters and heroic youngsters. Selick’s imaginative sets and puppets are in perfect pitch with Gaiman’s fantasy. The 3-D effects aren’t overdone but are used intelligently to make this world come brilliantly to life. Perhaps its me, but those 3-D glasses still weigh somewhat heavily on the bridge of the nose. But it’s a small price to pay for such smart family entertainment.”
The Hollywood Reporter
“One of the best feature films of the year, if not the decade… animated or not. Where Selick really stands on his own though is in the visuals. He took Gaiman’s generally gloomy and mysterious atmosphere and replaced it with an exceptionally vivid colour palette. He has managed to blend the original traditional animation process, stop motion, and incorporate a number of 3-D effects in a highly effective manner. Puppets haven’t moved this smoothly since George Pal. Scenes such as the other Forcible and Spink’s theatre or the other Mr. Bobo’s mouse circus would make even the most intricate Rankin-Bass scene look like something produced by Moral Orel. Coraline’s final confrontation with her other mother, where Selick totally redesigns Coraline’s other mother, will stun you with its inventiveness. Even the opening credit sequence, which can’t be described without spoiling the movie too much, will immediate draw one in with its visuals and images.”
Newsarama.com
“Eerily inhabiting the netherworld where a young girl’s wildest dreams become her cruellest nightmares, Coraline is a dark delight. Although it coarsens some of the details in Neil Gaiman’s popular 2002 children’s horror novel, this eccentric and deliriously inventive fantasy finds stop-motion hauteur Henry Selick scaling new heights of ghoulish whimsy, buoyed by a haunting score that works its own macabre magic. Probably too frightening for very small tots, the Focus Features toon deserves to be seen in all its big screen 3-D glory.”
Sun-Sentinel.com
“As Coraline tackles the problem of truly dealing with the realm behind her magic door, I was surprised by how unsettling and creepy the other world became, and enthralled by the dashes of beauty that shone between the slats of nightmare. The film is a clockwork marvel, an animation landmark, an ugly story for beautiful children. “
Chud.com
“The third dimension comes of age with “Coraline.” The first contemporary film in which the 3-D experience feels intrinsic to the story instead of a Godforsaken gimmick, “Coraline” is a remarkable feat of imagination, a magical tale with a genuinely sinister edge.”
Huliq News
“Mostly, though, Coraline is its own shiny new thing. The down-the-rabbit-hole quality of its story (yes, there’s a talking cat, voiced by Keith David) is a much better match for 3-D technology than the yawning conventionality of some previous efforts, like last year’s Fly Me to the Moon. That said, Coraline never desperately leans on the 3-D for cheap affect; it’s merely a component of its storytelling. The film also benefits from some great vocal performances. A lot of animated movies plug in celebrity voices without much thought or care for overall fit, but Fanning is pitch-perfect as Coraline – you get a sense of the exasperation that fuels her character – and the rest of the cast is a similarly good fit.”
hmonthly.com
“Coraline is a staggeringly beautiful film. This is a work of art from Henry Selick, the heir to Ray Harryhausen’s stop-motion animation throne. As the film moves from the drabness of Coraline’s reality to the beauty of her fantasy world, and again to the darkness of her nightmare world, the same whimsical, weird characters ease subtly from cute to chilling. This film is simply incredible. The level of detail in Coraline’s worlds is hard to match, and several scenes are just jaw-droppingly beautiful, intricately detailed works that border on magic. You’ll easily see why Coraline falls in love with her dream world, because you’ll fall in love with her dream world too. The 3-D is used, not as a gimmick, but as a way to add depth to the screen while not detracting from the film’s inevitable presentation in 2-D.”
Den of Geek
Synopsis
The door once led to a room, but when the old house was converted into flats the doorway was bricked up. That is, until the day a curious little girl named Coraline sneaks the key from her distracted mother, opens the door… and enters a alternative universe, where dogs eat nothing but chocolate, cats can talk, and she is greeted enthusiastically by her Other Parents.
Her Other Mother looks quite a bit like her own mother – except for the long spindly fingers and shiny black button eyes – but it’s her disposition that is most remarkable. Where her real mother always seemed too busy for Coraline, her Other Mother is attentive and affectionate. She cooks delicious meals, showers the little girl with praise, and asks Coraline to stay with her forever.
But Coraline misses her real parents – tiresome as they sometimes are – and insists on returning to the real world. There, she finds her parents trapped in the hallway mirror, victims of the Other Mother’s evil spell. Now she must take a dangerous journey back into the other world… or risk never seeing her parents again!
Neil Gaiman is one of the top ten living post-modern writers, and is a prolific creator of works of prose, poetry, film, journalism, comics, song lyrics, and drama.
American Gods book review
Neverwhere book review
The Graveyard Book review
Posted: February 12th, 2009
Author: Lee
Categories: Neil Gaiman
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