Coraline falls somewhere between the impressive and the disappointing. The storyline is cliché. but it somehow managed to keep me hooked up to the end of the movie. The storyline is the most important part of a movie; it is where the overall beauty of the film hinges.  A fresh storyline is guaranteed to impress, but in Coraline, we’ve seen it all before, it’s the usual stuff– an 11-year-old girl lured into another world and finds adventure and misadventures there. Think about Alice in Wonderland meets Pan’s Labyrinth in the 3D world. It’s interesting enough but not as exciting as a three minute rollercoaster ride.
As to the visuals, here’s what I have to say: nothing beats pure CG, or pure stop-motion animation. I know that the makers of Coraline took pains and pride in trying to mix the new way of doing it (CG) with the old way of doing it (stop-motion animation). But the two do not seem to mesh well, or is there something wrong with my eyes? Yes, it’s a visual feast, but I find it distracting to see where the stop-motion animation comes in and where it gets out. Pure CG has this kind of fluidity in motion that only it could have. Pure stop-motion animation has this kind of dreamlike realism in the images that could not be seen in the smoothness and perfection of CG.
Stop-motion animation comes out really rough if it is placed side-by-side with CG.  But never mind the CG and stop-motion animation not meshing well with each other because if you look at the whole canvas, Coraline is still visually appealing.
I like the character of Coraline Jones (probably because she was voiced by Dakota Fanning). She’s not the kind of heroine who consciously begs for your approval; she’s just herself, nothing more and because of this you’ll like her.  The characterization is one of this movie’s strengths.
If you enjoyed Nightmare Before Christmas, I am sure you’ll also enjoy this film.
