We saw Coraline the other day, and for some reason I was not enchanted. (My reaction to the book was enchantment from Page One, or thereabouts.)
I spent the entire film admiring the movie’s technical achievements, but I was never caught up in the action, and the odd thing is that I can’t figure out why I wasn’t caught up. Usually I can tell why a film doesn’t work for me, but this time I can’t work it out.
Possibly it’s because the film was a 3D film, and our local theater doesn’t have the technology, so we saw it in 2D. A lot of the film’s scenes were built around the 3d concept.
But still, 3D’s only a gimmick. It’s not like I really missed anything. The strength of the film should be in the script, and so far as I can tell the script was fine.
I was also aware that the music really wasn’t enhancing the film’s action. As music it was complex and interesting, as a film score it was second-rate Danny Elfman.
But I’ve enjoyed films with distracting scores before. What went wrong here?
Coraline 2D
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This is exactly why I’m a little afraid to see it myself-and i have easy access to a 3D theater.
The trailer gave me the impression that the movie is heavier-footed in the book, and in particular that it makes a big Moral Lesson of the choice between cheap thrills & the real world. In the book that's one thread among many and not a serious dilemma for Coraline.
Maybe the trailer misrepresents the movie, and if the movie were good enough on other counts I might not mind the Lesson, but it did cool my interest.
BTW, which came first, Bitsy or the black cat in Coraline? Both extremely satisfying.
I think Puss in Boots came first.
I didn’t find Coraline heavy on the moralizing. I mean, when you’re threatened by an evil witch who wants to pluck out your eyes and suck the life from you, your choices are pretty straightforward and you don’t need a heavy hand to point the moral.
The *book* wasn’t heavy-handed on the moralizing. But the movie trailer made it look as though the movie might be.
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