Spring Break
Coraline: Creepiest book-to-film adaptation to date?
Rachel Love
Issue date: 2/13/09 Section: Diversions
Coraline
Focus Features
Four stars
Runtime: 100 minutes
Starring: Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, Jennifer Saunders
Plot: In a visually-stunning stop-action film, Coraline and her parents move into a new apartment where she begins to explore the realm of the "other" world.
I've been excited about "Coraline" for a while now. The stop motion feature promised to bring all the stunning visuals of "The Nightmare Before Christmas" with a plot to match. Minus the singing, of course.
Based on a novel by Neil Gaiman, "Coraline" has been compared to fantasy adventures such as "Alice in Wonderland," in which the bulk of the excitement and story take place in an alternate reality. Though I have yet to read the book, the film seems to have all the makings of a successful book-to-film adaptation (unlike the first few Harry Potter movies … ). Basically, it was amazing.
If you're expecting the constant action of "The Nightmare Before Christmas," you should be prepared for a slow start in "Coraline." After moving to a new apartment in a very old house, Coraline spends a good chunk of the movie bugging her parents, exploring and very anticlimactically falling into the "other" world. The action builds slowly, but the movie itself is so visually stunning that the lack of action is easy to overlook.
An interesting difference between the book and the movie seems to be the color of the "other" parent's eyes. In the book, their eyes are apparently red (a sure-fire way to spot something evil, in my opinion). It seems to me that the movie may have been toned down a bit in order to make it more appropriate for younger viewers, but the plot is still mature enough to appeal to adults.
In all, "Coraline" is a visually stunning, fun and playful movie, with a solid but short plot and just the right number of characters. My main complaint would be that the movie could have been made to be slightly longer and a little more complex without sacrificing its target audience. I was left a bit unsatisfied at the end.
A huge complaint that has nothing to do with the movie is its presentation. If you've gone to see it in Corvallis already, you may have noticed that we only have "Coraline" in 3-D. This was hugely disappointing, not only for the unnecessary extra three bucks you have to shell out, but also because the 3-D was unimpressive and largely unnoticeable. If you have the opportunity, wait to see it until you're in Portland, where a few theaters have the plain old, non 3-D version.
Rachel Love
diversions@dailybarometer.com
Focus Features
Four stars
Runtime: 100 minutes
Starring: Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, Jennifer Saunders
Plot: In a visually-stunning stop-action film, Coraline and her parents move into a new apartment where she begins to explore the realm of the "other" world.
I've been excited about "Coraline" for a while now. The stop motion feature promised to bring all the stunning visuals of "The Nightmare Before Christmas" with a plot to match. Minus the singing, of course.
Based on a novel by Neil Gaiman, "Coraline" has been compared to fantasy adventures such as "Alice in Wonderland," in which the bulk of the excitement and story take place in an alternate reality. Though I have yet to read the book, the film seems to have all the makings of a successful book-to-film adaptation (unlike the first few Harry Potter movies … ). Basically, it was amazing.
If you're expecting the constant action of "The Nightmare Before Christmas," you should be prepared for a slow start in "Coraline." After moving to a new apartment in a very old house, Coraline spends a good chunk of the movie bugging her parents, exploring and very anticlimactically falling into the "other" world. The action builds slowly, but the movie itself is so visually stunning that the lack of action is easy to overlook.
An interesting difference between the book and the movie seems to be the color of the "other" parent's eyes. In the book, their eyes are apparently red (a sure-fire way to spot something evil, in my opinion). It seems to me that the movie may have been toned down a bit in order to make it more appropriate for younger viewers, but the plot is still mature enough to appeal to adults.
In all, "Coraline" is a visually stunning, fun and playful movie, with a solid but short plot and just the right number of characters. My main complaint would be that the movie could have been made to be slightly longer and a little more complex without sacrificing its target audience. I was left a bit unsatisfied at the end.
A huge complaint that has nothing to do with the movie is its presentation. If you've gone to see it in Corvallis already, you may have noticed that we only have "Coraline" in 3-D. This was hugely disappointing, not only for the unnecessary extra three bucks you have to shell out, but also because the 3-D was unimpressive and largely unnoticeable. If you have the opportunity, wait to see it until you're in Portland, where a few theaters have the plain old, non 3-D version.
Rachel Love
diversions@dailybarometer.com
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