It's Halloween, and we all know what that means; Jack-o-lanterns and candy and scary movies, it doesn't get much better than that. And back in the early days of this blog, I even had a special event to mark the occasion; a series of spooky movie reviews, the problem was back then I was not good at this, so it was a very rushed series of reviews, and it generally wasn't well handled. I had a similar plan last year too, even had films lined up, but I'm lazy, so it ended up never being finished. This year though, I give a shit, and I intend to do this right, a series of spooky reviews, some of them being revisions of last time, all with the same level of deliberation I would give any of my recent, more considerate pieces. Last time I opened the occasion with a review of a spooky family film; Monster House, so this year I'm doing the same; let's look at a little film I've been meaning to watch for years, Coraline.
Right out of the gate Coraline does a bad job of being a kids film, the intro sequence is wonderfully animated, and sets up a great amount of imagery, but it is on the creepy side, and perfectly sets the tone, meaning this is a creepy film. We are then, naturally, introduced to some of our characters, including Coraline, and while it actually took me a while to warm to her, she actually did become pretty interesting as the film went on, her frustrations are well founded and relatable, as is her discontent with her life, and this is a great angle for the film to attack from, it actually serves a descent message about being grateful for what you have, and being sceptical of things that seem too good to be true, both things Coraline is forced to learn throughout her freaky adventure. The film, despite being a cartoon, also doesn't depict the neglectful parents cartoonishly, like Coraline, it's more complicated than that, these parents, like all parents, have a lot going on, and have their priorities backwards sometimes, this is a surprisingly nuanced depiction of the neglectful parents, and it's really well done. Her kind of friend, Wybie, in contrast to Coraline, isn't a very well developed character, but what works about him is, in a fantastic example of the amazing animation, his body language, and that's all I'll say, because it's much better to see for yourself. As are her weird neighbours, who are all very suitably weird, though there are a few scenes with the neighbours where I question the filmmakers' intentions, it's entirely down to the imagery used, but that applies to the entire film, so it's hardly surprising. It especially applies to Other Mother, Coraline's mum's doppelganger, who is nice at first, as you'd expect in the wonderful other world, but from there this film actually might be a bit much for kids, good job on Coraline, because I'm in the position or really not wanting to spoil anything, but Other Mother is fantastic, especially in the film's second half. What I find most interesting about this film though is that it doesn't seem to know who it's appealing to. That sounds negative, like the film's confused and tonally messy, but far from it, the film commits to what it is, it's just that what it is might be a bit heavy for younger viewers, not just in the imagery, which we'll get to, but in tone. Coraline has levity, but it's a pretty dark film most of the time, which I love, being someone who loved another darker kids film growing up; The Nightmare Before Christmas, which, incidentally, was also directed by the same guy behind Coraline; Henry Selick. The other world however is a basic enough idea for kids to grasp, which is good, but the idea of the other world is something I find really fascinating, in a way it actually reminds me of IT; a creature that can distort reality in order to catch it's prey, there's something genius in that, and this more animalistic way of looking at the monster in this film only makes it more frightening. But with all that bleakness and emotional weight, I do think this film is more suited to a more grown up audience, even though the film has great animation, and has its fun scenes, so the kids will be entertained, but the amount of depth in this film is something I really love.
As I've alluded to a few times, this film looks great, but great really doesn't do it justice, the visual style and animation on display here is breath taking, my favourite thing about these stop motion animations is being wowed by shots, wondering how they pull off the things they do, and Coraline has so much of that that I couldn't keep up with the film at times, I was too distracted by the animation, which is weird. It should also go without saying as well that the cinematography is amazing, in fact the film is visually beautiful, and really shows off the amount of thought and care that went into pretty much every aspect of this film. This can be a detriment however if you're an overbearing parent who doesn't like your kid watching more unpleasant things, because this film has that, a fair bit. For the first half, there is some scary imagery here and there, but for the most part this portion is setting up intrigue, which it does, and giving a pretty light hearted adventure, not that dissimilar to The Nightmare Before Christmas. But it's around the half way mark when the veneer of the other world starts to slip, that this film stops being a fantasy adventure and becomes a straight up horror film, the imagery becomes far more twisted and masochistic, and the moments of levity are pretty much gone, replaced by scenes of excellently set up tension. This half is also where the film is at its most creative, as many of the spectacles from the first half are reused, but now changed, often distorted into more nightmarish forms, there's one scene in particular that even scared me, just because of how messed up what I was looking at was, it was brilliant. And Coraline's final scene with Other Mother is absolutely fantastic, it's a nail biting scene that I loved from beginning to end, the tension and horror is so well done, in fact it's done better than a few 15 and 18 rated horrors I've seen, looking at you Alien: Covenant. The only thing I can say about this final act that's negative is that the ending can be somewhat anti climactic. There's a point in this film near the end that would have been a great ending, but the film instead has another sequence that, after the amazing final scene with Other Mother, is just less menacing, but it does end the film on a conclusive note, while deliberately leaving a few loose ends that keep the film playing on your mind, the final shot in particular is masterful, leaving implications that are both heart warming and frightening.
Coraline is one of my nephew's favourite films, and I see that he has good taste, because since I watched it for the first time, I've come to love it. Its characters are nuanced and well realised, its setting and story are beautiful to watch unfold, as is the animation and cinematography, and the themes and ideas the film explores go far above its distinction as a family film, as does the imagery, which can at times be brilliantly intense. Coraline is as much a horror as it is a family film, and what it offers is more meaningful than what the majority of kids films can even try to muster. I think Coraline is a visual masterpiece, and it's an absolute must watch, and a fantastic way to start off this spooky special.
No comments:
Post a Comment