A Better Button
It's amazing what one more "D" can do
If you've listened to our inaugural podcast, and of course you have, you will remember that my thoughts on the not-so-Oscar-worthy Case of Backward Aging didn't exactly leave a glimmering shine on the association of buttons and cinema. Thankfully, and before I had sworn pure allegiance to zippers, another film has reaffirmed my belief in the archaic little trouser-fasteners. With all the creepiness of a Tim Burton movie and little magic in the 3rd dimension, Henry Selick has managed to stitch together a perfectly charming and deftly disturbing take on Neil Gaiman's looking-glass inspired fairy tale, Coraline. While the story itself isn't without its loose threads, its whimsical and simplistic themes meshed with Selick's unique animation style and art aesthetic make it an engaging and surprisingly adult friendly venture through a knitted world of talking cats and buttoned eyes. And if nothing else, consider it Dakota Fanning's premeditated apology for Push.
Some might call this a shortcoming of the film, but not being huge fan the obscenely bizarre and frightening, I'm pleased to say that Coraline is far more likely to charm the stuffing out of you than scare it. That's not to say this is necessarily a movie I'd readily show to young kids who are almost certain to have nightmares after witnessing some of the more bizarre and Burton-esque moments of the film. But as an adult who has acquired a taste for a bit of the bitter here and there, I found the mix of fantastic and foreboding to be a pleasant blend for a broader age group. All grown-up things aside, I'd be lying to say that interest amongst my friends in this particular movie going adventure didn't immediate triple when I mentioned its multidimensional nature.
I think it's too early to say whether 3D is the new HD, and I personally think I'd rather see more directors follow Chris Nolan's IMAX pioneering, but there is something unmistakably fitting about the use of RealD's astounding 3D technology and animated films. Coraline's implementation is particularly fulfilling as the materials used to create the stop motion puppets and environments feel all the more tangible when you can perceive the depth of quilted patterns on a miniature blanket. The 3D aspect also adds a layer to the meaning of story as you the audience literally peers into the doll house performance of story about what it means to be real or constructed. I can also say that this is the first 3D movie that didn't give me a headache to watch, something that Beowulf's three dimensional good-as-nude Angelina Jolie can't be said to have accomplished.
While I definitely enjoyed the film's story and the performance by its talented voice cast, the film's third act falls a little flat in encroaching a little too far into what feels like every narrative ever written for a Zelda RPG, where the young Coraline is forced to dungeon crawl the forest temple, water temple, and fire temple to find the magic crystals inorder to unlock the final boss fight. Well, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit, but there were definitely "achievement unlocked" moments that seemed a bit to video-gamey for my taste (which is saying something for a video game enthusiast). Though having not read the Gaiman story previously, I can only assume that Mr. Selick was sticking to the original source material, the rest of which is more than fulfilling as a weirdly cryptic bed time story.
The movie overall brought back fond memories of Guillermo del Toro 's Pan's Labyrinth and even Jim Henson's Labyrinth (ok, so my mind is stuck on labyrinths) as a young female protagonist explores her way through a magical world, and I think this film will appeal to that child-like quality in all of us. If for no other reason, you should plant your keister in a theatre chair just to support the struggling Laika animation studio as they continue to be the sole painters of this particular brush stroke, but with the mystery and wonder sewn so cleverly and satisfyingly into Coraline, you really won't need anything else to keep you butt-on that seat.
Dustin Anglin
Reader Comments (2)
Nice one.. I have been playing video games from my childhood like started from 2D games and this is really interesting article about the same. Now this time I am searching for some newly launched action games like call of duty or some other war games.
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