This movie literally BLEW ME AWAY.....

Rating: 10/10 (20 May 2009)

I'm not sure where to start. I love Henry Selick's work. The first time I saw "The Nightmare Before Christmas" it became one of my favourite films and still is.
Coraline was a film I simply couldn't wait to watch! (I am an extremely huge admire of stop-motion animation, I love it!) I was extremely eager to watch it and the more photos/info/trailers I saw, the more excited I was about it and the higher expectations I had...
The truth is, I entered the cinema with very high expectations. You know how sometimes this can ruin a movie?!? You expect it to be amazing and then it's a complete disappointment?!? This didn't happen with this film, in fact it was the complete opposite! I went in with high expectations and when I came out not only where those expectations fulfilled....They were beaten! It was better than what I even expected it to be! The film was simply mind blowing and I was literally watching the whole thing with my mouth wide open because I was too amazed by it...
The sets, the locations, the incredibly interesting and peculiar characters, the music... The voices all fitted perfectly... I couldn't have thought of a better voice than Teri Hatchers to play Coraline's mother...Everything just blended together perfectly. You can clearly see it's a Henry Selick film. I could see many references to "The Nightmare Before Christmas" but all at another scale, at another level... A bigger challenge, proving what an amazing artist Selick is. It's as if Coraline is the new "The Nightmare Before Christmas" for a new generation.
The film did scare me. More than an ordinary live action film you may see nowadays. The ideal word to describe it is "creepy". It gives you the goosebumps. Some people say it shouldn't be a PG movie. I disagree. Kids like these things. When I was younger and watched "The Nightmare Before Christmas" I was scared by it, I really was, but nevertheless I loved it and watched it over and over again... I think this is why children liked it and why they will love Coraline. They need those creepy moments to really give it that edge of credibility and interest. Children can associate and identify themselves's more with the story... It's not as appealing if everything is butterflies and flowers... It's a fairytale and fairy tales are dark by nature...It simply makes the magical more magical...It's beautiful...
I cannot recall how incredibly fantastic the animation is in this movie. I bow to all those patient animators who spend hundreds of hours of their time creating these amazing visuals. Every frame, every shot, every movement is perfect and given 100% dedication. It's truly breath taking.
Something that I rarely see in films these days is originality and this was one of the big reasons why Coraline blew me away. It managed to stay out of the "predictable" pattern and this is not easy, it's extremely hard to achieve... But Coraline did it...
Thank you Mr. Henry Selick for making such a wonderful creative piece of art. It will surely become a classic, I have no doubt and it shows how wonderful stop-motion animation is. It's movie's like these that really inspire you and remind you how magical and moving cinema can be.
ps. Watching it in 3D is a must...