Coraline

***1/2 out of ****

By: William Moon

Coraline tells the tale of a young girl (voiced by Dakota Fanning) living with her parents, who spend most of their time writing and not giving enough attention to their own daughter. Bored at home, and with her neighbors, Coraline discovers a secret world within her own home, full of magic, wonderment and never ending pure fun. It sounds like a dream come true, until Coraline's parents from the other realm want to make Coraline "one of them" by sewing buttons into her eyes, completely erasing the actual Coraline, much like "The Stepford Wives." Obviously Coraline refuses, and rushes back to her old world, but escaping isn't as easy as she thinks it will be.

The film is based on the novel by Neil Gaiman, author of Stardust and Mirrormask, and much like those films, Coraline is aesthetically pleasing to the eyes. Director Henry Selick (The Nightmare Before Christmas) weaves us into this surrealistic stop-motion world of both terror and wonderment, and like The Nightmare Before Christmas, it is a film that appeals to all ages.

There's the sense of morality that the film holds that sometimes we take for granted what we have and during a tumultuous time or catastrophic event are forced to see what truly means something to us. The score is one of the best in years, by Bruno Coulais, and only enhances this wonderfully created world.

The film isn't as good as Nightmare Before Christmas, but is certainly good in its own right, and in many ways better than Tim Burton's Corpse Bride. It might be a little scary for some viewers and some parents might have a problem with some of the suggestive sexual innuendos in the film, but it's no worse than what one would see in a Shrek film. Many people seem to place all animated films in a category only for children, and Coraline isn't one of them. There are many animated films that come out each year for adults, such as Persepolis and Waltz with Bashir. Coraline falls somewhere in between Monster House and those.

Many complain that Corailne is about as soulless as the Other Parents in the film that try and sew button eyes on Coraline, but I would have to disagree. I believe Coraline has the depth and heart that are required for the film. It's not touching in the way a typical Disney film would be, but it doesn't need to be. It's about learning lessons and appreciating the value in ones every day surroundings. Like many adaptations of Alice in Wonderland, there are many moments in Coraline that do feel a bit unnecessary and tedious in the overall grand scheme of the plot, but in the end everything seems to fall into place in a rather spellbinding and spine tingling conclusion.

In one of the most creatively well-constructed films I've seen in quite some time Coraline manages to be both an accomplishment on a visceral and thought-provoking level.