Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Movie Recommendation: Coraline
I just came back from seeing Coraline, the new Henry Selick movie based on the Neil Gaiman novella, and it was unbelievably brilliant. It is easily one of the best animated films of all time, both for its story and the quality of the animation. There is nothing else that looks anything like it, and there are certain scenes that are breathtaking to behold. Also, I saw it in 3D, and it is the best use of 3D I've experienced yet; it is not overwhelming, and enhances the magical quality of the world that Selick has created. If you like Neil Gaiman and/or animation, you owe it to yourself to see this, preferably in 3D. It is a triumph.
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Why do you think that the movie hasn't seemed to have much impact, despite the great reviews?
ReplyDeleteFor one thing, the friggin cost of 3D. Now admittedly I went to a relatively upscale theater to see Coraline, but it cost 14.50 per person! This is one reason I think 3D is destined to fail in the short term, at least during the recession.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the trailers don't do the film even a remote bit of justice in terms of its overall impact and atmosphere. Granted, this is a film where it's impossible to make an effective trailer, since its about the overall experience and there aren't exactly great one-liners or standout quick scenes, but still, the lackluster trailers can't help.
Lastly, this is a decidedly non-commercial film. Even though the pace is perfect, it is very slow, and the actual story is incredibly creepy and presented as such. It would be hard to take a little kid to this film due to the intensity of the story and the images.
However, it seems to have done decently at the box office compared to expectations, and all I can say is that the audience I saw it with, which was a weird cross-section of people (families, old, young, dates, very mixed racially), were restless at the beginning i.e. talking and eating loudly, but got utterly hooked and applauded at the end.