Coraline is not merely eye candy, but clever story-telling as well

The newest wave in multiplexes all across the country is 3D movies that utilize technology as a substitute for good old fashion story telling. Coraline, the newest film from the director of the Nightmare Before Christmas, is a good example of how the 3D format doesn’t have to overshadow good filmmaking. The film uses stop-motion animation to tell the eerie story of a young girl looking for a more fulfilling life.

Coraline Jones (Dakota Fanning) is a precocious young child who is nursing the effects of her family’s recent move to Oregon. Highly imaginative and full of energy, Coraline feels neglected by her parents who seem to be preoccupied with their careers while failing to pay attention to her. Coraline’s hopes for a more satisfying life are realized when she discovers a secret door in her new home that leads to an alternate version of the life she is currently living. Her new world is realized with a new set of “other” parents who look eerily like her real ones, but are strangely different. Here Coraline is showered with gifts and praise night after night. Like all such fantasies though, her new life comes with a startling price. When Coraline realizes that her new parents are set on keeping her in their reality forever, Coraline must rely on her craftiness and determination to make it back home.

Although Coraline feels more like an exercise in style than in substance, it’s simple story is carried along nicely by its stunning visuals. Audiences will more than likely find themselves swallowed up in the pictures rather than in the narrative, but the simplicity of the story is what it needs to be; a dream-like sort of tone that captures a mood rather than preaches an overwrought message. Coraline is the proverbial Alice in Wonderland, who doesn’t realize what she has, until she almost loses it all. While the message is simple enough for children to grasp parents be warned; this film is not for the very young. The film’s PG rating is earned with disturbing visual imagery that is emphasized not with gore, but with some dark themes the story suggests. You will probably want to leave your 6 year- olds at home for this one.

3/5