Coraline 3-D (PG-2009)

It is a rare and wonderful thing when you go to a movie theater and are completely surprised by what you are watching. Even more rare is to be completely blown away. "Coraline" hits both of those marks. This is a much darker movie than I ever imagined it would be. I figured we were in for a visually stunning movie aimed for children. What we got was an incredibly visually stunning film that works for all ages and, in fact, is a little scary for younger kids (my 8-year old hid her face through much of the middle third). Coraline (Dakota Fanning) is a little girl who has just moved into a new home and is very bored. Her parents (Teri Hatcher and John Hodgman) appear to be very self-involved as they keep telling her to find something to do. When she is outside and meets another child, named "Wybie"(Robert Bailey Jr.) and he explains his name as "You know, like, WHY-BE born", you get your first hint that this movie may go in some dark places. That is nothing compared to when Coraline finds a secret door to an alternate universe where her parents are super-attentive and loving and, well, too good to be true. She learns too late that they are not what they appear to be and must find a way back to her real home. When her "perfect" parents explain that she can stay with them, but she does need to have buttons sewn into her eyes, we are talking dark here!! The animation is consistently breathtaking and is stop-motion animation at its finest. I did see the 3-D version and that added an entire new level to the experience. The 3-D in this movie is not that gimmicky "hey, look what we can jump out of the screen" 3-D, but instead adds depth to the screen and images and gives life to this stop-motion animation. There are a lot of 3-D movies coming out this year and it definitely looks like they have finally figured this thing out. The 3-D now enhances the movie experience, it no longer takes the movie over. "Coraline" is a masterful, old-school fairy tale in the Grimms Brothers tradition of telling the morality tale with very horrible consequences. Time is running out to catch this in 3-D. If you have not seen it yet, I highly recommend you go soon. If you saw it in 2-D, go again and see the 3-D splendor!

Grade: A+

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