Review of Frankenweenie (2012) by Harry W — 22 Sep 2014

Aware of the history of Frankenweenie as well as the personal significance that it had to diector Tim Burton, I was very eager to see Frankenweenie to see him perfect his own work as well as to enjoy a feature length stop-motion film.

I've never had the oppurtunity of seeing the original version of Frankenweenie due to difficulties regarding accessibility to the material, but nevertheless I knew that Tim Burton had come a long way since he started as a filmmaker.

Frankenweenie is obviously a passionate piece for Tim Burton. It is a film iconic of his stricly gothic film style, for better and for worse. Many viewers may find the approach innovative and ambitious, while others may find it distant and creepy. For me, I found that Frankenweenie had both its postitive and negative elements stemming from the film's style, but as a whole the film was good. Its negative elements came from the fact that a lot of the concepts in the story were not fully capitalised on, or that they were a little too creepy to have the precise comic effect that seems to be intended there. And also, there are story issues. Frankenweenie's plot is clealy intended as a homage to the Universal monster movies which were popular during the early 1900's and beyond. You can tell that the designs of many of these characters are based on a lot of famous movie monsters, such as the turtle Shelley who becomes a giant Gamora-like monster. This is mostly put in at the expense of the film's story. The tale in Frankenweenie is a thin one which tries to touch upon the relationship that a boy shares with his dog as well as a world plunged into darkness by dead animals brought back to life and turned into monsterss, but it only does so lightly in favour of the film's visual spectacle and how it serves as a homage to the aforementioned many horror films that influenced it. This is all part of the film's tongue-in-cheek humour, but it is not fully clear due to the serious and dark tone of the film as well as the fact that it is all references to characters from multiple decades ago from all over the world and at all different times, therefore being unlikely to be understooy by every viewer. Considering that Frankenweenie is an animated fim, it is part of a market usually directed at younger audiences. But it is all material more likely to appeal to adults who understand the references or people who are massive fanatics of those films while young audiences may be left uncertain of that or if the film is even all that funny. So the target demographic for Frankenweenie seems rather ambiguous although it is likely to appeal to Tim Burton fans and classic monster movie fans. For me, I found many of the jokes amusing but too funny, and the fact that they played out against the backdrop of a rather thin plot was what bothered me.

Visually, Frankenweenie is masterful. Stop-motion films are not as popular today as they were once upon a time, but Frankenweenie manages to breathe some life into the genre with exceptional animation. Building on Tim Burton's signature gothic style, the entire film happens in black and white with many different tones of shadow occuring. And it works because it gives the film a nostagic feel to the old horror films which Frankenweenie is influenced by. It is terrific because everything in the film looks great and is so detailed that I got lost in the film and forgot that it was claymation. The animation in Frankenweenie was exceptional mainly because the movements of the characters were all organic. Capturing the detailed production and character design of the film from atmospheric and interesting angles, Frankenweenie is also full of characters who have excellently organic physical movements. There is never a single weak frame in the movie because every movement of every character is exceptionally detailed. Visually, Frankenweenie is thoroughly amazing because it boasts some of the highest quality stop motion animation available in the world of cinema. Everything looks exceptional, and it manages to distract viewers from a lot of the story flaws. They were all there, but I found that the quality of the animation in the film managed to transcend it as well as the fact that it gripped Tim Burton's signature film style at heart. All in all, the animation and Tim Burton's role as director manages to give the film the right atmosphere. Tim Burton is definetely not a man I favour when it comes to remakes, but a remake of his own work is one that would work. Frankenweenie is proof of that, and so his passion for the film is all too easy to pick up on.

The voice acting in Frankenweenie is very great as well. With Frank Welker helming the role of Sparky and getting all the dog noises correct the animalistic side of the film is believable, and when it comes to the humans the standouts are easy. Martin Landau is the main one because his character Mr. Rzykruski is clearly inspired by Vincent Price from the original Frankenweenie and both the appearance of his character and his tone of voice fit the profile very wel. Matin Landau proves once agin work well alongside Tim Burton, as does Winona Ryder whose small role is a charming one. Charlie Tahan also makes a likeable lead as Victor Frankenstein because he puts a sense of juvenile charm into the pat while establishing the nature of his relationship with Sparky as one of the key touching elements of the story.

So Frankenweenie is flawed due to a thin story which works more as a homage than as an actual narrative and inconsistent humour, but the immense quality of its animation and Tim Burton's directorial passion is what keeps it entertaining.