Review of Frankenweenie (2012) by Kyle T — 03 Feb 2013

I think Tim Burton has finally earned a bit of his credibility back with Frankenweenie after several years of films ranging from pretty bad to just plain awful. I say that because this captures Burton's old sense of dark whimsy as he once was able to portray on film before.

This film, if you are a dog lover, may just get you to cry, while providing good whimsical laughter as to be expected. The characters in the film are all a bit believable in one way or another, and all of them look great in their characterized designs, especially the kids who all seem to have some trait of a classic horror film character.

That aesthetic by the way, that of classic horror films, works really well here. The themes of science and letting things go work really well in this film, especially the one on science, which is really well done.

Despite some loose ends of the film by the end, and very few contrivances that don't affect the film too much, this is a strong film by Burton, and also seems to show some hope that Burton may finally be coming back to his senses.