Review of Coraline (2009) by Gsmith2021 — 13 Feb 2017

Everyone remembers as a kid wishing for a different life, or different parents. The movie “Coraline” is a very unique movie And you can tell that these producers put a lot of work into this movie. I thought that this was a movie that is different from most other movies that I have seen. “Coraline” has a very eventful storyline, it gives off a sort of dark feeling and leaves you in suspense throughout the whole movie. Laika Entertainment also did a great job in casting as well.

“Coraline” is very creative and has some very precise details that I found interesting. For an example, the setting, Ashlynn, Oregon was settled around 150 years ago. Look out for a part in the movie where they mention that in the movie as well, you can tell that these people did some serious research. The movie starts off by Coraline (Dakota Fanning) moving to a new house called the Pink Palace Apartments and she is not exactly excited about leaving her friends behind. Coralline is quickly introduced to some of her next door neighbors. Wybie (Robert Bailey Jr.) , the next door neighbor, is a young boy who lives with his grandmother. Mr. Bobinsky (Ian McShane) , her other next door neighbor, is a retired acrobat that works with circus mice and helps her along the way. The ladies downstairs to her apartment also play a big role in the story. Coraline’s parents ( John Hodgman and Teri Hatcher) work all day for a flower catalogue and they never spend time with their daughter. All Coraline wants is to have a loving family and some nice friends to play with. Coraline soon realizes throughout this movie that there is no perfect family.

This movie has its pros and cons. One thing I disliked about “Coraline” is that I wouldn’t say it is appropriate for little kids. There are a few scenes that would most absolutely be scary for them, such as a few jump scares. Another thing I didn't like about this movie is that the storyline is very confusing and I definitely had to watch this more than once to actually understand what was even going on. One pro I had for this movie is that it had a good theme, which I won’t spoil for you. Another thing I enjoyed about this movie is that it left me at the edge of my seat. I had no idea what was going to happen next! I have one more thing that impressed me. The animation is just wonderful. I cannot believe how seamless it is. This certain type of animation is labor intensive and so hard to do, and this movie had great animation.

Even though this movie is rated PG, I would recommend this movie to kids over eight years old. Due to some very scary and inappropriate parts. If you are really wanting to have your child watch this, maybe you should watch it first just to be safe. Overall, I thought that this film was pretty decent, but I do believe that it could’ve been better.