Everything About this Movie is Great

Rating: 8/10 (8 June 2016)

Coraline follows a little girl who, after moving into a new house, realizes how boring her life is. She eventually discovers a secret door that leads her to an alternate dimension where everything is better, yet as she goes there more and more she begins to receive warnings against the place.
This was one of those movies where I hit the thirty minute mark and had basically solidified a 10/10.
To start the visuals are great. This is a clay-mation movie though, so it's kind of expected, but there were still loads of great big visual spectacles scattered throughout. Not only that, but every character design is great. From Coraline herself to Wybie to Beldam (especially Beldam), everyone looks fantastic.
The plot is, while not horribly original, presented in the best way. It's complemented by interesting and fun characters who lead it along, one of whom is a little girl who is actually smarter than most of the grown women we see in other horror movies these days, yet she's not so smart that she's unrealistic.
The movie actually isn't all that scary, but instead takes it's time in building up the characters and conflict until the climax where I felt more tension than I did fear. Sure, I figured I knew the ending considering it's supposed to be a kid's movie, but that didn't stop me from getting invested. It was scary more through subtlety and knowing things that maybe the characters didn't, or not knowing things that the characters also didn't. The main villain, however, was very intimidating and creepy especially towards the end. Surprisingly, the opening sequence also managed to be pretty unsettling.
I was surprised to find that the soundtrack was actually really good. It fit the movie really well and I just liked how it sounded. I've listened to it outside of the movie and still really like it.
Overall Coraline was fantastic. Everything about this movie is exceptional, so I really don't see any reason why I'd give it anything less than a 10/10. I can certainly see why someone wouldn't enjoy it as much as I did, but I don't really care. In the end I would definitely recommend this movie.