Parents consider reading the story first...

Rating: 7/10 (21 November 2009)

First off, as a parent I echo the sentiment mentioned here and by Sam/Hannah's Dad to me, that this film is not for all kids. Indeed the theme that the Mom/Dad you want might not be the Mom/Dad you need is a mature one, and the fearful factor of a child abduction by the "other mother" is scary, even if you are not in a blended family.
Stepmothers rarely fare well in reality and fantasy, and mirror-mothers less so.
The idea of sewing buttons in the eyes, to make allegiance to the mirror mom complete, well that is pretty horrific concept. But done with stop-motion animation this is not a "Chainsaw Massacre." I had read the story to my boys when they were six, and decided to watch it this year around Halloween when they were seven. Watching it in our home on a small screen I also think is less assaultive than seeing it on a big screen. In general, my guys are a little more attuned to the macabre and we definitely talk about how TV is not real, etc...
So it worked very well for us, and maybe you as well. The movie introduces a new character who was a hit with the twins, WhyBe added humor and also a role for a boy. (All those great Ghibli films always seem to have a strong *girl* as the lead...and here of course Coraline is the *star*).
The film looked great to us. I just asked one of them what they liked/remembered and he cataloged quite a few specific images (from the garden, the robot, the bat/dogs, the walls that became mouths...which I didn't remember) and so on. I sometimes forget how visual the little guys are. And this film has plenty of trick-or-treats for the eyes. Also if you read the story first as we did, it might help your kids that then they know a happy ending of sorts is coming.
As always, I'm grateful for something my kids *and* I can enjoy that is not pathetic pablum.