Coraline: A decent movie in my opinion.

Rating: 8/10 (11 February 2009)

Well, on Monday my mom and I went to go see Henry Selick's newest movie "Coraline." I really wasn't exactly sure what to expect with this one.
First off, let me say a little about the music. The music in this movie is awesome and very well composed. Most Notably the music in the opening credits of the movie. Those who have seen "Nightmare Before Christmas" know that it has a bunch of songs in it. This movie has only two songs, both of which are intended to be ridiculous.
Next, the plot. The plot centers around a young girl named Coraline Jones. She discovers a door in her house that seemingly doesn't lead to anywhere. One night, she discovers that there is a tunnel that sometimes appears behind the door. She goes through the door and finds "the other world", a place where there are alternate or "better" versions of her neglectful mother and father. Night after night, Coraline visits this "other world". After a while, she finds the world is not what she thought it was at first. That is all I'm going to say. You'll have to watch the movie to find out the rest^^ Something I noticed about this film is the pacing. The pacing is very very slow. I'm not saying that's necessarily a bad thing, but in some parts of the movie, you may feel a little bored.
The mood of this movie is quite dismal, but not depressing. You get a certain sense of dankness from the real world that Coraline lives in.
The animation in this movie reminds me of Henry Selick's other stop motion animation "The Nightmare Before Christmas". It's like we have gone back in time to more choppy animation. The style of the characters and the sometimes awkward way they move may bug some people.
I would recommend seeing this movie in theaters before seeing it anywhere else. I think I actually enjoyed the movie more because of the theater experience.
The short version: I recommend seeing this film. Because of the slow pace and the fact that this movie has some frightening images, I don't recommend bringing little children to see this. I don't advise bringing any child under the age of 10. Every kid is different, so your little 5 yr. old may love this movie to bits. Who knows:). This is seriously the Weirdest movie I have ever seen, so if you don't "do" weird movies, this one probably isn't for you. It is a bit morbid and very Gothic pretty much the whole way through.
I give this movie an 8/10 for the somewhat predictable storyline, but it has so many redeemable qualities that I still gave it a high rating. What are you waiting for? Go see Coraline already!