Intriguing, good characters, but still missing something

Rating: 7/10 (6 October 2009)

I was drawn to this movie due to the fact Henry Sellick directed it who brought us the timeless classic Nightmare Before Christmas. Coraline has many of the same elements Henry Sellick uses in his movies but it was still missing something to me to make it a great movie.
Henry is a master at creating unique characters that amaze the audience. Coraline is no exception as the different characters and amazing scenery is what stuck out to me the most. The plot of the movie was also on point about a young girl escaping the real dismal world into a fantasy world where anything is possible. Many other aspects of the movie make it great as well like the amazing score and art direction but the pace of the movie is what slightly bothered me.
Some scenes in the movie to me were drawn out too long and the point some of the characters were trying to make were halted for some unnecessary scenes. I guess with the many different characters in the film, there needs to be a lot of screen time to get their story across, but some scenes to me were not needed and dragged the film a little longer than it needed to be.
But overall, Henry Sellick still proves he is a master of creating unique characters, stunning imagery and developing a great musical score to make any movie of his a must see. While Coraline has some flaws, it is still a good movie and a recommendation for anyone whose a fan of his work. 7/10