Tim Burton’s most recent bigscreen outings have involved vampires, Johnny Depp and a very brightly coloured Wonderland where Alice spent some time running around. One of the most visually accomplished directors of all time, Tim Burton has really brought his A game to Frankenweenie. For many; this stop motion animated movie is look nothing you’ll have seen before. And while it’s quite the contrast to his more recent work, it certainly is one of the directors greatest works of all time.
Shot in black and white and converted to 3D (Don’t worry, it’s a good conversion) Frankenweenie is a visual tour de force. A young science lover, name Victor brings his dog back to life, after he gets run over. With a few adjustments here and there, Sparky is as good as new, except for the fact that Victor tries to keep him a secret. Afterall what would the town and his parents say if they knew he dug up his dead dog and fried him back to life, using lighting. The secret gets out (as these things do) as does Sparky, and things take quite an eventful turn, which you will probably not see coming.
Visually Frankenweenie is faultless. The attention to detail is nothing short of staggering. The design of the characters is 100% Burton, and this movie seems like the director was left to his own devices by the studio. And WOW, does it show. Each character has a unique style and personality. It’s quite easy to take a shine to some of them, but the real highlight is Sparky. The minute touches to the dog are phenomenal. Not only is he bursting with personality, he’s full of little canine characteristics that could have so easily been brushed to one side.
The 3D is quite subtle, but works well enough giving more sense of depth than anything else. You get so absorbed in the movie, at times it doesn’t feel like 3D at all, which really is taking second place to everything else here, and thats a good thing.
With the likes of Martin Short and Winona Ryder lending their voice boxes to the characters, Frankenweenie is almost a complete package. Originally, the movie was a short from Burton (which ran for about 30 minutes) 28 years ago. The full length feature on the other hand, runs for about 90 minutes and this is where it falls down, albeit briefly.In the second quarter things slow down quite a bit and the story is a little sporadic and all over the place. Thankfully though, it picks itself up and delivers an emotional punch in the finale that had my 3D glasses unable to obscure the tears. Simply brilliant!!!
Frankenweenie might be a little dark for very young kids, but everyone else will love it, especially the nods to Frankenstein and Mary Shelly, amidst plenty more including many characters’ names. This is one of Tim Burton’s finest works and comes highly recommended. Check out this visual masterpiece NOW!
