Review of Frankenweenie (2012) by Viktor N — 06 Aug 2013

Superb stop-motion film...from a pure, "art of animation" standpoint.

With great style, detail, and characters, "Frankenweenie" is a lot of fun to take in. It has plenty of charm, heart, nods to the horror genre, and the signature Tim Burton wit and macabre whimsy to keep the average family unit and cinephile alike quite entertained. It may, however, be a slight case of style over substance. While it contains some musings on the human condition (the plight of social outcasts for instance), the story is extremely simple in theme and plot, and does very little to expand upon the original 1984 short. Indeed, not very much happens in the film. I could literally present all of the story beats here in one sentence.

Ultimately, while I can say that I enjoyed the film -- especially in a visual sense -- I'm left with a rather 'meh' feeling over all. If it weren't for Burton's style, it'd be quite forgettable. "Frankenweenie," incidentally is still probably one of the better films from the director in a while.