Ilinca Nastasia,

Editor (Film)

 

Frankenweenie, Tim Burton’s latest creation, follows in the established tradition of grotesque cuteness, a la Corpse Bride and The Nightmare Before Christmas, this time functioning as a love letter to classic monster films.

Working loosely around the plot of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the film concerns Victor’s (Charlie Tahan) distress at the loss of his dog, Sparky, which prompts him to use his scientific knowledge to resurrect the dog. Obviously, complications arise from this, as Victor is forced to keep his technically dead pet a secret from everyone else, a hard thing to do given Sparky’s energetic nature. From here on, everything you expect to happen, happens; the plot being a standard fare and not taking any unnecessary risks. This would be annoying or at the very least slightly bothersome if this were any other film, but it works well with the subject matter. It is, after all, a homage and narrative complications would only detract from the overall tone.

As for the characters, they are archetypes taken straight from the horror genre textbook and not fully developed. Again, it is important to note that the film doesn’t aim to be anything more than a fun affair for the entire family, so this is not necessarily a bad thing. Their interactions are engaging and one of the things that really makes the production shine. And speaking of shine, the style is another one of its biggest selling points, as is expected of a Burton film. The animation is seamless and used to its full effect, the character design is beautifully executed and the grainy black and white look of the film really adds to the atmosphere.

All in all, it is not a spectacular film, not by far, but it functions perfectly within its scope and delivers exceptionally well in certain areas. And hey, it’s still better than Breaking Dawn.