Reviews WesternAnimation / Coraline

A charming movie haunted by an unfair reputation.

I went on a Laika movie marathon recently, watching all of their stop-motion movies in reverse chronological order. So naturally, I saved their best for last. While I enjoyed all of their movies to different extents, by the time I reached Coraline, expectations were high because I heard a lot of great things about this movie. I never heard of or read the book, but I discovered the film, ironically through the licensed game, but that's besides the point.

After going through three seperate viewings. I can safely conclude, that yes, Coraline as a movie is fantastic. The characters are spot-on, memorable and likeable, the stop-motion imagery is quite impressive and amazing after over a decade, and the finale delivers a good bang for your buck. I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone. It's an excellent movie.

So, going by all that, you're wondering what did you mean in the header by the movie having an "unfair reputation"?

Well, its about the other hyperbole I heard about the movie. I heard legends about how "dark", "frightening" and "terrifying" Coraline is and how it put Bring My Brown Pants to the forefront of many audiences and gave audiences Nightmare Fuel for weeks on end. Going into this film I expected some crazy pandoras Box gothic horror never before seen. While Coraline definitely has it's "gotcha" moments, and Other Mother is definitely quite a monster, I really didn't find much in the way of real horror here. In fact, I found the whole movie very cute and charming, and intriguing otherwise. Who is the Beldam and where did she come from? Why is there a mysterious portal door in the Pink Palace? Who built the damn place to begin with?

Those are the real things Coraline leaves as an impression to me, and in my opinion to slap a cheap "too scary" label on the movie really sells it short. It's nothing like that and is really unfair to this wonderfully creative movie in my eyes. There is much more to Coraline and lots of memorable things to enjoy in it beyond its brief horror elements. Overall, its a fun and whimsical mystery adventure story for all ages that enters your heart and never leaves.