Review of Frankenweenie (2012) by Kendall I — 05 Mar 2013

Tim Burton has done it again in this charming tale based on his live-action short film from the 80s.

PLOT:In the strange little town of New Holland, Victor Frankenstein (Charlie Tahan) abides with his parents (Catherine O'Hara and Martin Short) and his beloved dog, Sparky. Sparky is pretty much Vic's best friend and they act very inseparable. However, Sparky is hit by a car and killed one tragic day, leaving Victor in his despair. Inspired by the new science teacher (Martin Landau), Victor pulls a classic move and brings his beloved dog back to life with wind and lightning. Now, Victor must try to keep this big breakthrough a secret from his peers and parents. It's a good plot executed greatly.

VOICES:The voice acting in here is pretty good. Charlie Tahan is fairly okay as young Victor Frankenstein, but he doesn't really steal the show. The voice that stole the show belongs to Martin Landau as Mr. Ryzkruski. He did a truly chilling performance of the creepy new science teacher. The other shiners would be Catherine O'Hara as Mrs. Frankenstein, the weird girl, and the gym teacher, Martin Short as Mr. Frankenstein and Mr. Burgemeister, and Winona Ryder as Elsa Van Helsing. A lot of the Tim Burton usuals are in here.

SCORE:The score in here is very charming and done well by the great, Burton favorite, Danny Elfman. The themes are very soft, fitting, and clean.

ANIMATION:The animation in here is one of the best things about this movie. The animation in here is of Burton's usual brand and is done beautifully. The movements are smooth and the design is unique and artful. I appreciate Burton for this.

OTHER CONTENT:Tim Burton revitalized his animation skill in this little movie. This movie is mainly built on charm and entertaining twists, which get it by fine, but it's actually quite scary. It's scarier than I imagined it being. There are jumps and creepy visuals to give you scares. Burton takes the classic Frankenstein story and adds a bunch to it to make it a quirky adventure for kids and family alike. However, there are few points for originality. Though class shows through the way it's shot, the Frankenstein genre has nearly been done to death; not to mention that there are several cliches located throughout the movie.

OVERALL,a great movie with a good plot, pretty good voice acting, charming Elfman score, beautiful animation, lots of charm, entertaining twists, a good bit of scares, and class, but it's not that original and fairly cliched.