Visually OK, Otherwise Weak

Rating: 6/10 (7 February 2009)

While the animation is quite good in spots, the film itself lacks warmth or chemistry. Much of the voice acting, particularly that of Dakota Fanning, is flat and sounds forced. While the 3D was interesting enough, several scenes felt like they'd been inserted for no other reason than to stick something in the audience's face. Example: the banana slug scene, which added nothing to either the story or character development. Parents should take note: many children under 9 or 10 in the theater in which I saw the film were scared to tears by the villain; I heard quite a few "Mommy, I'm scared! I want to go!" and similar complaints resulting in young children leaving the cinema. All in all, Coraline is visually nice, though not particularly noteworthy (old videos for the band Tool did better with the same sorts of material, for instance). The story is an interesting one, but this adaptation will likely leave most viewers over the age of 15 cold and those under 8 too scared to enjoy it. This is certainly nothing on par with "The Nightmare Before Christmas," and even "The Corpse Bride" was a stronger animated film.