Forget the disappointment of Dark Shadows, Tim Burton is back in a big way with his new film Frankenweenie 3D. Scary, funny, touching and a wonderful homage to the Universal horror movie back catalogue. I loved this movie. Too scary for little kids, but older kids who like the creepier side of life should love it. Although not if they've lost a pet recently, it might be a little too close to home if they have....
If you've seen Frankenstein, then this movie should revive some memories, as it riffs off that story but transfers the action to an 11 year old outsider, who decides to bring his beloved dog Sparky back from the other side after an unfortunate accident. Young Victor Frankenstein's hopes to keep Sparky's revival a secret do not go to plan since the dog lives up to his name and runs off for a day of adventure where he is seen by Victor's creepy classmate Edward E. Gore (Igor, geddit?). Edward's ambitions to win the upcoming science fair soon see the tale spreading and others trying to copy Victor's experiment, with varying results.
There is a lot of humour in this movie which was a bit unexpected, but it's gentle and mainly stems from the dog who behaves a lot like a real dog. It also comes for those who recognise the homages to some old and new creature features (Jurassic Park gets a few nods), so it will go over the head of the younger viewers. There are also some poignant moments, as young Victor comes to terms with the reality of loss and love. And the climax of the movie is fantastic fun as the undead pets go on a bit of a rampage. This movie has it all.
The voice work is good but subdued (you will recognise Winona Ryder as the girl next door but probably won't pick up most of the rest who are not big names), which lets the characters really come to life as you're not constantly thinking "Oh it's Johnny Depp". The focus is really on the storyline and the scenery.
I do recommend seeing this movie in 3D, which is used sparingly but gives the film depth, since it was shot in black and white (well actually it is greyscale for all the tech nerds). Although I could imagine this would look beautiful with Burton's favoured colour palette of purples and blues, as a tribute to the old school horror movies it looks very elegant. I especially loved the artwork in the scene where Victor is setting up his experiment in the attic on a stormy night, trying to generate as many ions as possible with all the household gadgets to get the lightning to strike his fallen best friend. It just glowed so hard, it's really stuck in my mind.
Overall, this is a movie with real heart and magic. Exactly what Disney should be creating in my view, although again I would say that it's not suitable for young kids. Interestingly, when Tim Burton was a 26 year old animator for Disney, they asked him to make a short film they could release as they thought he had a bright future. He made a half hour movie called Frankenweenie. The execs took one look and fired him, "it's too scary for kids, are you out of your mind?". Now 20 years later (approximately, I don't really know) here is Burton releasing a full length 3D version of Frankenweenie with full backing of Disney. It seems the world has changed and through Tim Burton and Henry Selick's (The Nightmare before Christmas) persistence, we now know that adults can enjoy creepy animated tales and some kids don't mind a bit of a scare either. And so the world has Frankenweenie 3D, a great Halloween movie!
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