CORALINE REVIEW

*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

Fans of The Nightmare Before Christmas are likely to enjoy watching Coraline, which is director Henry Selick's take on Neil Gaiman's book of the same name. Both films are made using stop motion animation and feature interesting characters.

When Coraline (voice of Dakota Fanning) moves to an old house, she feels bored and neglected by her parents (Teri Hatcher and John Hodgman). She finds a hidden door with a bricked up passage. During the night, she crosses the passage and finds a parallel world where everybody has buttons instead of eyes, with caring parents and all her dreams coming true. When the Other Mother invites Coraline to stay in her world forever, the girl refuses and finds that the alternate reality where she is trapped is only a trick to lure her.

The visuals, especially in the beginning of the film and in the parallel universe, are really impressive. After Coraline moves into her new house, she decides to explore outside. In this scene, because she's wearing a bright yellow raincoat and has blue hair, she stands out in the dark and gloomy setting. However, after she ends up in the parallel universe, she fits in as the colours are all a lot brighter leading Coraline to believe she's in a world where everything is perfect.

When we first meet Coraline, she is bored and fed up of her new house which leads to her finding the parallel world and she soon develops into a brave and likeable protagonist. I think that a lot of young children will be able to relate to her as she wishes she had different parents but this film teaches us that having perfect parents isn't always a blessing. Coraline is also very similar to Spirited Away's Chihiro as they both end up in new worlds and must find ways of escaping. However, she isn't alone. Shy and awkward neighbour Wybie (Robert Bailey Jr.) becomes Coraline's friend and a small, talking black cat (Keith David) helps her out in the parallel universe.

I put this film off for a long time because I was worried it'd be too scary but, after watching it, I soon realised I'd been silly. Some scenes may be too scary for young viewers and the film does feature two female characters who, at some point in the film, dance in some very risqué outfits.

The voice casting is great. Fanning makes Coraline her own and, despite only her voice appearing in the film, portrays her as a brave and fierce protagonist. Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders provide comic relief as Coraline's neighbours, Miss Miriam Forcible and Miss April Spink.

I doubt fans of Gaiman's book will be disappointed with this film. I haven't read his book but, judging from this film, I'm sure it's a great read.

The story gets more interesting as it goes on. Because I hadn't read Gaiman's book, I had no idea how it was going to end but the climax is an exciting watch and kept me on edge.

This is a great film to watch during Halloween and, if you liked Selick's The Nightmare Before Christmas, I'm sure you'll enjoy this film.

7/10