I need to see Coraline before it leaves the theater. I've been on the fence about bringing my kids (ages 5 and 8). Maybe I should see it without them first. I think the 8-year-old would be fine, maybe even the five-year-old. They don't tend to internalize and they're not "scared" often, but I'm still wondering if it's appropriate.

This is the second (in 24 hours) suggestion to see the movie in 3D. Well, I jsut went to see it at the googleplex here in town, and it WASN'T in 3D. Stoopid small town northern googleplexes...ratsafratsin'

I did still really like the flick though.

Lori, there were people with kids there last night, prolly roughly the same age. For what it's worth, I wouldn't bring my two (ages 7.5 and 5) but they can be a little easily scared at times.

LoriFLA, your hesitation is wise, I think. It's really good, really really good, but it's very intense and could frighten little ones. Your 8-yr-old might be okay, but a kindergartner could get scared by it. It's also a touch bawdy at one point, which I don't know if that's a problem or not, but the bawdiness is for comedic effect.

Neil Gaiman's been talking it up furiously on his blog. Unless you live in a huge city you may not be able to see it in 3D any more...Jonas Brothers took the screens over the weekend (I know, how sad...)

But if you *can*, you absolutely *should*. It was amazing.

And LoriFLA, seconding that some hesitation might be wise, especially with the five-year-old. *I* was a bit frightened at points and I have twenty years on him/her. But it's a wonderful movie, so maybe see it yourself first and decide.

Yep, I just saw it in 3-D yesterday, too. Extraordinary. If anyone has the option to see it that way, definitely do; I'm sure it's still incredibly dazzling even in plain ol' 2-D, though.

I would strongly caution against taking any child under the age of 7 or 8 to it. It's fine (if a bit dark and creepy) for most kids up until the last third or quarter, at which point it gets very frightening. I heard several younger children crying and asking to go home toward the end.

I saw it in 3D -- it's visually beautiful. (The story could be more clever, especially re the second half, a bit dull.) It's creepy -- I wouldn't take a little kid.

The story could be more clever, especially re the second half, a bit dull.

The reviews by people who have read Gaiman's original story all seem to agree that this is a problem with the adaptation. The screenwriter altered some things to its detriment, most of which I can't discuss without spoilers. But the strength of the story, coupled with the *amazing* visuals, more than makes up for that weakness, IMO.

more than makes up for that weakness, IMO

Definitely! I loved it.

It was definitely one of the best movies that I've seen in 3D, although I haven't read Gaiman's book.

Although I have only seen it once so far, Coraline is in my lifetime top 10 favorites for now. As such, the following is not negative criticism.

I cannot say it is too scary for kids under 10, but it probably will bore them to distraction. This story strongly emphasizes the childhood-nostalgia theme at the expense of plot. It goes deep and the pace is quite slow. Some plot points may seem redundant to those not paying attention. The original story is really good for a 50 minute film, and the director did a fantastic job stretching it so thin. Don't take the kids and go to a late showing when kids are least likely to attend.

I was unable to see it in 3-D.

If I had seen this movie before I was 12 it would have scared the crap out of me. I was easy to scare as a child. (The book really would have scared the crap out of me at that age, too.) So this is one of those things that's going to depend on the child.

As an adult (having read the book) I found the addition of the new character to be slightly annoying but I understand WHY it was needed for a movie version.

It was terrible story, but gorgeous film.

Why haven't I heard of this movie so far, not a surprise though, since if it had been released in the past 5 to six months--it's no wonder.

Don't take small children you say--it's that scary, ohhh, I better watch it soon then, and on 3D too.

You know, there was this film (animated) about a girl who goes through the revolution in Iran, and then get's shipped out to France, where she then makes the film which tells the story of her life, so I was kind of hoping for that, but I can't remember the name right now...

Yes, the Jonas Bros. kicked it off the 3D around here (I did not even know it was 3-D until the Mr. expressed his disappointment that it was 2-D). I wouldn't take an under-8 to see it. It's a bit bleak and the climax has some very intense visuals for some kids, certainly.

Just saw the trailer, Spoiler Ahead: "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLuSgGCh1Dw&eurl=http://www.top-buzz.net/2009/02/watch-coraline-movie-online-coraline-trailers/" (yuk, she kills those bugs with her hands, bwak!), and I can see how kid's would be scared... let me try and remember the last film I was scared in--oooh, Aliens, where Ripley has to fight those damn things--now that was scary stuff. Couldn't sleep for weeks.

Nthing not taking a kid who is easily frightened....and stay put for ALL the credits. I'm about halfway through the book and agree with fbk that the foil boy didn't need to be there-and that it should have remained British.

Hadjiboy, you're thinking of Persepolis, which was a graphic novel first. Marjane Satrapi's parents sent her to Austria, but she now lives in Paris.

Oh, right, Persepolis--thanks brujita--I had forgotten that.

I don't think making it American felt off. There wasn't anything in it that seemed jarringly Not Like We Do It Here. I've lived in old houses carved up into apartments, unevenly. I knew all about dousing / divining rods as a kid. Most kids I knew (although we did not) wore uniforms to school. I'm not sure what would have been served by keeping it British?

Of course, my only exposure to Gaiman is the Sandman comics, back in college, and I though they were badly done.

Heresy! Burn the heretic! Crush - I'll confess to having a similar initial reaction to Sandman when I first read an issue, but there is some excellent storytelling in the series which I fell in love with once I read the right bits. It's not a work which is without fault, granted, but it's also 70 whole issues (plus specials) so you're bound to get a couple of rough spots.

Personally, I think Gaiman's best in the short form. He needs better editing when he writes for the long form.

As for Coraline, I purposely did not reread the book until after I'd watched the movie. Even then, the changes and deviations from the source material were fairly easy to recognize despite the several intervening years since I'd last read the book. Some of the changes were improvements in my eyes, but there were some differences which weren't justified, too. Since the discussion would involve spoilers, I'll refrain from explicit comment for now.

The movie was gorgeous, though. Which makes it all the more tragic to note that most everyone at Laika (about 300 people, I believe) were laid off at the end of last year.