Wednesday 20th May

Coraline 3D

Director: Henry Selick
Year: 2009
Stars: Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French (voices)

I really enjoyed this. The story is pretty good, engaging and, whilst creepy (I'm pretty sure a 5 year old would be having nightmares), still fun to watch. There were a couple of times when I felt the plot was moving a little slowly, but this didn't matter - mostly because I was watching it in 3D.

I was a little dubious about seeing Coraline - it sounded good, and it seemed to look good, but it was directed by the same guy who bought us A Nightmare before Christmas. When I first saw that film, I hated it. I admit, I was only 13 at the time, and I'm still not sure if it's because it really was as dull as I found it then, or because I simply didn't "get" it at that age. Either way, I've not yet had the courage to sit through it again. So Coraline truly did come as a pleasant surprise.

The story is based on the book by Neil Gaiman, about a girl who moves to a new house with our parents. She finds a secret door, and through it, her "other mother and father". Everything seems perfect there, until she discovers her other mother wants to remove her real eyes and sew buttons in their place. Yes, it is as creepy as it sounds - and the film makes no apologies for it. Just one of the things that meant I enjoyed it!

I have to admit though, 50% of my enjoyment came from watching it in 3D. It's the first "real" film I've watched in 3D, one of the new cinemas in our area having installed the technology to show 3D films when it was built last year. It really was like a new cinema experience for me - which I found very exciting! There are no more red and green glasses like you used to get (still glasses, but stylish black ones - and after 30 mins I forgot I was wearing them), and the 3D element really does work quite well. I was impressed. Coraline doesn't really use 3D to "come at you" like I expect a number of other films do (apparently Bolt, one of the first recent 3D films, does this), but it does use it remarkably well to draw you in. For example, it's especially stunning for watching such simple things as the flowers growing.

I'm not sure I would have enjoyed Coraline quite so much in 2D, for which the film loses a star. But as a 3D experience, it was an excellent film and a great night out enjoying something that felt incredibly new and fresh. Not an experience I think it would be easy to create in my living room either, giving me another good excuse to keep going to the cinema! I'm not saying I think all films should be 3D, but after seeing this, I'm really quite pro the concept.

Rating: 4 out of 5