Coraline review

Something happens around three-quarters of the way through Coraline, it steps up a gear. The direction, story, animation and 3D work all comes together for a thrilling final act that generates more urgency and suspense than any other film that I have seen so far in 2009. What's more astonishing is that this comes from a 'children's' movie.

Animated movies have had the bar set quite high in these past few years, titles such as Wall-E, Toy Story and The Incredibles have proved that animated movies can be a critical and commercial success and can still be geared towards the children/family demographic. However just as Toy Story set a new high by using detailed 3D computer modelling to create it's animated world, once in a while an animated film comes out that pushes the bar that notch higher.

Not only a children's tale, but also a cautionary children's tale with an underlying message that will appeal to all ages. Coraline, the eponymous heroine of this story immediately stands as one of history's great animated females, intelligent, wise and resourceful, she shows that you don't have to be a princess, live in a castle or have a knack for fashion to save the day.

Coraline tells the story of a young girl, who feeling neglected by her parents after moving to a run-down apartment, finds a tiny door that leads to an alternate dimension. Within it she finds her apartment now beautifully furnished and her parents, attentive and loving, but why do they have buttons where their eyes should be? It doesn't take long for Coraline to realise that there's a price to pay for this perfect world, and when her 'other-mother' tells her that she has to stay forever and have buttons sewn into her eyes too. Coraline finds herself in a race against time to save herself as well as her real parents.

The result of stop-motion animation combined with 3D camerawork results in a film experience that borders on the wonderful. It's subtle instead of intrusive and nuanced without ever feeling like an added effect. Instead the use of 3D adds an extra layer of depth that brings you into straight the world of Coraline. The careful and confident direction by Selick brings a new level of detail that will amaze the adults and keep the children entertained. The use of 3D never detracts from the story, it enhances it.

It's an intimate story, far from the epic aspirations of most children's tales and while it radiates with innocence there's also a dark undercurrent. It's eccentric, imaginative and exactly what you would expect from the helmer behind The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach, with a few notable scenes that are on the cusp of exploding with invention.

There's delightful voicework from the principal cast, with Dakota Fanning as Coraline, a scene-stealing Keith David as a talking cat and Teri Hatcher as a worthy opponent, all admirably supported by work from Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders and Ian McShane.

If there's a criticism to be made, it's that it's a 101 minute film expanded from a short story and at times it shows. The first 20 minutes meander along before quickly gaining momentum, the film itself struggling to absorb you in until the first time Coraline visits the alternate world, before we get to such marvels as a terrier dog amphitheatre and a mouse circus, it stalls.

On the promotional literature for Coraline there's a claim that could almost feel like a gimmick, it's the first animated film to be shot entirely in 3D. However in the careful and capable hands of Henry Selick this lovingly crafted children's tale merges new technology with traditional animation methods to deliver a spectacle that should make both adults and children alike giddy with delight.

Jonny Dawson