Runtime: 1 hour, 27 minutes
Rating: PG
Director: Tim Burton
Quick Impressions:
Hotel Transylvania is a fun, silly kiddie monster flick with lots of jokes, bright colors, and tender moments aplenty.
Frankenweenie is a horror movie for children.
There aren’t too many of those. Probably because such a formidable mob of concerned parents does not want children horrified, children’s horror has never been a teeming subgenre. (In fact, I don’t think any movies are officially categorized as children’s horror, but that doesn’t stop such films from lurking (oft) unseen waiting to strike (like an invisible goldfish). (Think Return to Oz.)
Now Frankenweenie does have some legitimate laughs, but it’s certainly not a comedy. It’s half homage to classic monster movies—real ones like The Bride of Frankenstein, not kids’ stuff like Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein—half nostalgia tale of a boy and his dog. Of course, the boy’s dog is dead—a major plot element that turned off my father who expressed zero interest in seeing the film for that reason. And my dad is onto something.
Frankenweenie does have a perverse darkness, a skewed viewpoint. It’s like a return to form for Tim Burton who reminds us that he knew twisted and dark long before Goth turned cute and monsters became mainstream.
Frankenweenie may be a Disney movie about a boy and his dog, but don’t let that mislead you. The movie’s only cute moment comes in a Bride of Frankenstein sight gag when Victor’s reanimated pet sparks with the poodle next door (owned by a girl named Elsa, incidentally, a nice nod to original Bride of Frankenstein Elsa Lanchester). That’s probably the movie’s only “cute” moment.
Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not knocking Frankenweenie. (In fact, this is practically a compliment.) I’m just saying, Burton clearly relishes reminding us that his inspiration comes from a dark and twisted place. (And I don’t just mean Burbank.) Expect tarot readings of cat feces, a pair of dead frog’s legs twitching awkwardly in the air, and a baby’s pacifier that’s been…
You know what, as a mother and germaphobe, I can’t even bear to think about that. But let’s just say you’re never going to wonder to yourself, “Did I wander into Mary Poppins by mistake?”
Black-and-white, stop-motion, 3D horror movies for children are pretty rare. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen another one. But I have seen a remarkable number of superior animated features this year. Competition for an Oscar nomination should be fierce (especially because the Academy gives at least one slot to an obscure foreign film average American audiences have not had the opportunity to see). Based on its amazing visuals alone, Frankenweenie deserves to snag a nomination and even a win.
Watching it made me pretty happy for Tim Burton. I don’t know if you’ve seen the live action short Frankenweenie, but I remember it from my childhood, and this full-length, animated version is a far superior product. I’m sure Burton’s delighted to breathe new life into an old project with such impressive results. Some recent Burton films have felt a little too cute and kind of half-hearted and slapdash. That’s not the case here.
The Good:
I’ve given this a lot of thought, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen such stunning stop motion animation. Putting this movie together must have taken an extraordinary amount of work. Every scene is rendered in such amazing detail, and the scene changes so often. Victor is only in the backseat of his parents’ car for a handful of seconds, but the car looks just as real as any other setting in the film. Besides creating a thoroughly real (and charmingly stylized) town for Victor to live in, Frankenweenie also frequently plays with shadow, wind, and water. The choice to film in black and white only makes the well-set scenes more striking and the use of light and shadow more effective. Based on the visuals alone, Frankenweenie deserves the animated Oscar.
However. As I noticed all this—and noticed, too, Burton’s loving tribute to classic monster movies revealed through the very cinematography—I found myself wondering, Yes, but is this entertaining children?
Our theater was packed. And up to that point, the story had been dark and sad more often than funny or scary. Are kids actually enjoying this? They didn’t seem restless, but the movie hadn’t been on that long, so I really couldn’t be sure, and I definitely had my doubts.
Then something wonderful happened. Edgar made a “promise” to Victor, then immediately showed his true colors to the audience by throwing up two crossed fingers behind his back. The minute the scene cut to the crossed fingers, a collective gasp arose from every child in the theater, and I thought in amazement, Tim Burton is a genius. Not only does the movie have a lot to offer buffs of classic cinema, but the twelve and under crowd was absolutely mesmerized.
That moment when all the children gasped was an example of brilliant filmmaking and made me realize that even though its story is not quite as strong as its visual aesthetic, Frankenweenie is still a success on every level. And as a matter of fact, John August’s screenplay is really pretty good, much stronger than the screenplays of most recent Tim Burton projects.
The voice acting is also excellent. Martin Short (highly recognizable as Mr. Frankenstein and less so as his other incarnations) gives a wonderful performance as Victor’s father. Though undeniably talented, Short is often over-the-top, but here he gives a reined in and really quite touching performance. (He also makes Victor’s classmate Nassor a wonderfully creepy reminder of what made the classic monster movies great.)
Catherine O’Hara (also easy to recognize in her primary role) seems perfectly cast as Victor’s mother. (I never would have guessed that she was also playing Weird Girl and the gym teacher, but next time I will have to listen more closely).
I was also happy to have Winona Ryder in the cast. When I was my stepson’s age, Ryder seemed like the coolest teenager in the world, so I’m always pleased when she turns up in things, and she was well cast as Victor’s oddball neighbor, Elsa Van Helsing.
The young actors are all very good, too. Charlie Tahan makes Victor immediately sympathetic. And Atticus Schaffer (best known as Brick on The Middle) is so much fun as Edgar “E” Gore that while watching, I assumed a seasoned adult actor was voicing the
character.
My favorite performance came from Martin Landau as Victor’s sometime science teacher, Mr. Rzykruski, the greatest character in the movie by far. My words will not do justice to just how great Rzykruski is. He provides not only the funniest moment in the movie but also one with the most dramatic oomph.
Funniest Scene:
The first scene of the children interacting with their new teacher in the science room introduces Victor’s world very well. As I’ve said, Mr. Rzykruski is great, but he’s not the only one. By the time all the pupils have finished putting in their two cents about the town’s lightning strikes, it is abundantly clear that the aptly named Weird Girl is not the only weird one in New Holland (a town that has its own Hollywood-style sign set off by a convenient windmill).
The scene in the school room is funny, but funnier still is the town meeting called to discuss the parents’ concerns about Mr. Rzykruski’s teaching methods. Rzykruski’s speech made me laugh out loud so many times that I started to get embarrassed. In many ways, it makes up for the relative lack of humor up till that point in the movie. As my stepson put it, “Well, he’s very direct.” Yes, indeed. Just remembering his speech makes me laugh.
Best Action Sequence:
Choosing a best action sequence really depends on if you prefer comedy or suspense.
Clearly the most diverting action sequence comes when all the children’s science projects converge at the Dutch Days festival.
Death by popcorn, anyone? That whole bit reminds me (fondly) of Gremlins. Better still is the moment we’ve been expecting since Nassor first approached the mausoleum at the Pet Cemetery. (“Go Colossuss! Kill! Kill!”)
On the other hand, if you prefer high stakes and uncertain outcomes, the scene in the windmill wins the best action sequence title hands (and paws, and wings, and tails) down.
Best Scene:
Without a doubt, the instant when Edgar crosses his fingers is the best moment, and the action surrounding it probably makes the best couple of scenes. Everybody who’s seen the preview (or heard the title) expects the moment when Victor reanimates Sparky. (Don’t get me wrong. When it happens, it’s still stunning. The upside-down bicycle is a particularly clever touch.)
But I personally did not know ahead of time to expect what happens when Edgar coerces Victor into helping him with the science fair, too. I thought the sequence beginning when Edgar selected a specimen and ending with Edgar’s encounter in Toshiaki’s garage was perhaps the best part of the movie, simply because the movie began to feel fresh then.
Other great scenes: Victor’s parting conversation with Rzykruski and the evening when all the boys begin their own experiments. I also liked Winona Ryder’s reaction to her costume at the Dutch Days festival.
The Negatives:
My three-year-old fell asleep during the previews and remained asleep through the entire feature (and long afterwards), so I didn’t have to worry about the movie scaring her. But I think some elements might be quite disturbing to young children. (I mean, even before the “playing with dead stuff” aspect comes around, the dog has to die.)
My father’s objection obviously didn’t deter me, but I could see how some people might feel squeamish showing their children a film that centers on the reanimation of dead tissue.
Also, if you want a moral—particularly one that you’ll agree with—you may be disappointed by this film. (On the flip side, of course, its lack of heavy handed, social subtexty, cinematic preaching is bound to seem like a breath of fresh air to some.) The science teacher does offer Victor some encouraging words, but the main message of the story seems to come from Victor’s father who admits, “Sometimes adults don’t know what they’re talking about.”
So, parents, if your hope is to dissuade your kids from digging up dead things and attempting to electrocute them in the hope that they will live forever, taking them to this movie might not be the best choice.
(Better put your foot down in advance, because once they’ve seen Frankenweenie, your kids will be aware that you may not know what you’re talking about.)
Frankly, this movie is refreshingly subversive. The moral seems to be that creativity and curiosity should be allowed to go completely unchecked because it’s small minded people who burn down windmills. Anarchy! Chaos! Intellectual freedom! Revenge of the Nerds! Hooray!!!!!
So some parents might not appreciate that.
Also (on a less morally searching note) the beginning of the movie is a little bit boring and predictable. I mean, we’ve all seen some incarnation of Frankenstein, and some of us have even seen the previous incarnation of Frankenweenie. (And, um, any kid who has the Disney Channel has basically already seen the first half hour of the movie, a little bit at a time.) It’s a little slow story wise until we get past the part we’ve seen in the preview. (Although, visually—wow! As I’ve said: Stunning!)
Overall:
On the strength of its visuals alone, Frankenweenie deserves a nomination for Best Animated Feature. I’d be shocked if it doesn’t get an Oscar nod. It definitely earns one with its gorgeous stop motion animation showcased in striking black and white. (I didn’t see the “eye-popping 3D,” but from the look of the production, it’s bound to be good.) I’ve enjoyed other animated films more, but this one is certainly one of the year’s strongest. Tim Burton should be proud. He has created art.