Not great,but it's a very solid movie

Rating: 8/10 (14 March 2009)

How many times will writer Neil Gaiman recycle Alice in Wonderland ? I have three examples of that : the graphic novel A Game of You, the screenplay of the movie MirrorMask, and the short novel Coraline.And,thinking it well,the graphic novels The Books of Magic (with a male main character) and Death: The High Cost of Living (investing the oneiric world with the real one) could also fit on that category.But well...I guess we can ignore those repetitions if we consider them the as "recurring subjects" from the author.If someone has won the right of rethinking Lewis Carroll's formula is undoubtedly Gaiman,whose perfect domination of fantasy and its perfect balance with the real world has brought us literary masterpieces like American Gods,Good Omens and The Sandman.I was thinking all that when I had finished watching the movie Coraline.This movie is not great but I could forget of any comparison with Alice in Wonderland because I had had a very good time with its simple but at the same time deep story,its emotive moments,its correct observations and with director Henry Selick's visual magic.I am very happy to see Selick finally getting recognition,after being unfairly ignored for his solid work in the film The Nightmare Before Christmas,which is considered for many people,as a director Tim Burton's work,when in fact,it was Selick's.Honestly,I think Coraline is superior to The Nightmare Before Christmas for the simple fact the original material is more ingenious and that,combined with Selick's bizarre sensibility,it gets an appropriate balance between eccentric humor and disturbing fantasy.Fortunately,that sensibility is not out of control in Coraline (at the difference of Monkeybone) because,at working with Gaiman's short story,Selick had to "domesticate" his bizarre imagination and use it as a tool for telling the story.The result is very entertaining and with some creepy moments.I have two complains against Coraline.For one sight,some elements feel a little bit forced and out of place while there are a few moments in which the movie looses the focus of story.However,in spite of that,Coraline is a very solid movie which is not great,but it is very entertaining and I like to see a Gaiman's work very well adapted,specially after the disappointing Stardust.I recommend this movie with confidence because I liked it pretty much.