Coraline – In 3D No Less

I don’t go to the movies much these days – I can’t afford to refinance my house so that I can afford the tickets. Once in a while, however, a movie comes along that I just have to see on the big screen. Action movies, obviously, are best appreciated on large screens but the plethora of 3D movies that are showing in Perth also require a trip to the cinema. So off we went along with a significant chunk of my hard earned.

Coraline, the movie, is an adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s Coraline, the book for children. Those of you who are familiar with Neil Gaiman’s work would know that Disney is not a major influence on his stories. As a result Coraline is a deliciously dark and scary movie in the vein of the best fairytales – not the Disneyfied, sugar coated fairytales but the “they cooked the witch” type fairytales.

The story revolves around eleven year old Coraline who has just moved to a house in the country with her parents. Pursuing deadlines, her hardworking parents urge Coraline to explore which she does begrudgingly and finds a portal to an alternate universe. This universe is everything Coraline wants from life, including a mother (an Other Mother) who dotes on her. Naturally, not everything is right in this universe and Coraline soon finds herself fighting for her life and her parent’s lives.

The story is the important element here but the visuals are not too shoddy, either. Dark and sombre, at times, colourful at others, the screen is a treat for the eyes. The 3D is nicely understated and don’t add much to the story – if the thought of wearing those special, polarized glasses fills you with dread just see the non-3D version. It is the story that draws you in, not the effects.

Gaiman’s story borrows heavily from fairytales and folklore. And, typical of fairytales, the cautionary elements are aimed at adults and children alike. Pay more attention to your children; don’t take your parents for granted; don’t play with buttons (just go see the movie.) It is scary but the children streaming out of the cinema seemed delighted. Perhaps it is us parents who are frightened the most. Just go see the movie.