Coraline

The film features an Alice theme, a script for a short at most, and Selick's eccentric fantasizing. After half an hour it simply doesn't do anything and comes ever closer to the desperate cry "Let something start happening, for God's sake!" Ironically, what I enjoyed the most was Dakota, who intones perfectly and literally "acts" in the vocal positions of a nasty brat, a scared little girl, and a brave girl. The rest of it was terrible and didn't even need the assistance of Tim Burton. (12/31/2009)

A very pleasant island of stop motion imperfection in a sophisticated flood of silicon superhumans. Beautiful animation further enhanced by the 3rd dimension, very poetic decadent drollery and a very nice atmosphere. It's unfortunate that the musical accompaniment does not captivate as much as Elfman's songs once did. Coraline is more infantile than Burton's work and it doesn't have the sharp verbal humor, but despite all the plush, it is able bite nicely. I had a great time. [85%] (05/29/2009)

Selick’s Caroline, sorry, Coraline lacks one thing. And that is the “button phobia" which, unlike in the book, never sets in. Maybe it’s because I don’t share Selick’s vision as a whole. It’s not nearly dark enough. There’s nobody quite like Dave McKean. This Coraline is an excellent animated movie, but nothing more. But the potential for more was here. (06/14/2009)

Coraline took me back a few years and made me feel like a kid who loves fairy tales, dolls, and adventure. A powerful and excellent film that is totally unique in its stylization. From my perspective, Coraline swept Alice off the table like a button :-) Brilliant! (03/28/2011)

One of the most interesting animated films of recent times, which is mainly based on the quality book by Neil Gaiman, currently one of the most interesting creators of alternative worlds. Coraline can satisfy both children, except perhaps the smallest ones, as it contains dark motifs and scary scenes, as well as adults, as it has a very clever story with interesting characters and a significant message, it is filmed dynamically, with a sense for visual art, and it almost deserves five stars. Paradoxically, in my eyes, it is harmed by what current animated blockbuster productions are based on, i.e., typical computer graphics, which makes it lack a certain exclusivity characteristic of classic drawing and animation. Overall impression: 85%. (04/30/2010)

I made myself watch it and I feel like it's matured a little bit. I don't always let Gaiman get to me. There's still the contrast between genuine horror and pleasingly button-grotesqueness, but it's still great regardless. The stop-motion animation is also incredibly rich and imaginative. So why not? (09/23/2009)

If you compare Selick's Coraline and Burton's Alice in Wonderland, the winner is clear. The fantastic stop-motion animated Coraline wins. The film is visually almost unbeatable, it offers ten ideas for every minute, the few songs that are played are pleasantly crazy, the music is good, the characters are humorously bizarre... The problem is in the story, which is not uninteresting, but it gets boring at times, especially in the second half. But what the hell, I tell myself, it's a fairy tale. And a good one. Too bad it's not as adult as The Nightmare before Christmas... (08/18/2010)

I was a bit worried when the film was slower to start and visibly tried to engage my imagination and some of my patience with its story, but after a few minutes the doubts were successfully erased and I became increasingly satisfied with the final form. Sure, it's no Miyazaki, it lacks Danny Elfman's catchy compositions and the story doesn't sound particularly likeable, but there's still the charm, the imaginative idea and the very original execution, which is always the most important thing in animation. The Oscar nomination, in my opinion, is well deserved and pretty much says it all. (10/15/2012)

It’s been a while since I last watched an animated film, and I was quite pleasantly surprised by this one. It wasn't exactly a masterpiece worth a five-star rating, but the animation was great. I really enjoyed the dark, almost horror-like atmosphere, which was strongest in the last third, but it had seeped out here and there even earlier. To be honest, the atmosphere could have been even darker. I wonder what the film would look like if it had been directed by Tim Burton. I'm sure it would be right up his alley. Either way, the story kept me entertained, and it did give me a chill from time to time. If you want to give your kids a good scare, make a little fake door in the wall, have your kids watch this film, and have a lot of fun while consoling them from their nightmares. Coraline definitely ranks among the better animated films, and I'm not opposed to rewatching it sometime. I'm glad to see that filmmakers are still making nightmare fodder for kids. / Lesson learned: It can always get a little worse. (10/16/2022)

This is an animation that you just don't see very often anymore. I'm especially glad that Henry Selick chose this particular book by Neil Gaiman to adapt into a stop-motion animated puppet film. Coraline looks amazing in this animation and I'm glad that there are still people who appreciate and put effort into stop motion animation. The result is definitely worth it. Additionally, the horror-themed animation is even better. And this fairytale has a strong horror element. (12/23/2013)

Coraline. A fabulous movie for kids and parents alike. I had a great time watching and I liked it, therefore I giving it a full set of stars! And I really liked the voices: Teri Hatcher and Dakota Fanning. The enchanting trip into fantasy at the Pink Palace =oD. It reminds me slightly of "Alice in Wonderland", but I think that this is much better (plot, characters...) (02/27/2010)