Review of Coraline (2009) by Michael M — 15 Jan 2018

Just to be upfront here, I love Coraline. I loved the book, and the movie may be even better. I used to count it among my top 10 favorite movies until Laika's next movie, ParaNorman, dethroned it. Even so, this is an incredible movie.

All the more incredible due to the fact that I used to hat stop motion animation. I always found it unpleasant and creepy. I hated James and the Giant Peach, and Nightmare Before Christmas is just okay.

Here, it's definitely creepy, but it doesn't have that pervasive unpleasantness the other two had and the creepy is used appropriately in the story. It never feels like too much. It's intense for sure, the second half is basically a horror movie, but it still holds a charming quality and childlike charm to it.

It's ultimately a basic grass is always greener/love what you got story, but it's done with such a bizarre and pervasive creativity that it feels wholly original. If I have any complaints I'd say maybe the ending with her parents could have been a little stronger, and the climax turns a bit too action-heavy whereas in the books it was more about her wits, but these hardly ruin the experience and I'm really stretching to find problems here.

I love this movie. The animation is gorgeous, the story is insanely creative, the voice acting is pitch perfect, the music memorable and tonally suitable, it's a damn-near perfect movie in my book.