Tim Burton started the story of Frankenweenie back in 1984 as a simple short film about a boy and his dog. Now his vision has come full circle in a black-and-white stop-motion animated film that brings back the old traditions of monster movies. It is a “horror” film that people of all ages can enjoy. The animated film shows how much a pet not only means to a family but more specifically to a child.
You must keep in mind that it’s still a Burton film so it’s dark and a little on the creepy side, but what else would you expect? It’s an homage to the classics and while it isn’t as exciting as I had hoped, Frankenweenie still separates itself from the normal and delivers a story of meaning and a child’s love for man’s best friend. And it doesn’t matter how many times you have to bring him back to life.
Victor (voiced by Charlie Tahan) is not your normal kid. He is viewed as weird and has no friends. Actually he has one. His best friend is his beloved dog Sparky. But suddenly he loses Sparky and is left all alone. But borrowing from the ideas of his Science teacher Mr. Rzykruski (voiced by Martin Landau), Victor is able to bring his best friend back to life with the use of electricity. And while his experiment works, neighbors and fellow students begin to find out what he has done and some of the students try their own kind of experiments that are much more terrifying and dangerous. Winning the Science fair is taken pretty serious in this small, spooky town.
Burton does a wonderful job with bringing his haunting world to life. It brings a whole new meaning to “It’s alive!” And while the black-and-white is wonderfully done and fits in perfectly with Victor and his bringing the dead back to life story, this animated tale slows down during the middle of everything.
Frankenweenie is trying to pay tribute to the monster movies that have become before it, but the pace is off and isn’t consistently entertaining throughout. While some of it is clever and refreshing, other parts of the story we have seen before. It’s been in movies that this one is trying show respect to, but it ends up becoming its downfall.
Burton’s artistic creation and skills undeniably shine through in Frankenweenie. But I can’t help but say that by the end I found myself underwhelmed with the film. I appreciate the different approach taken for the story, but it still finds itself gasping for a breath of fresh air. There has only been one animated film so far this year that is sharply intelligent while being a lot of fun and it’s ParaNorman. Sorry Mr. Burton, maybe next time.
Brandon Vick is a member of The Music City Film Critics’ Association, the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and the star of The Vick’s Flicks Podcast. Follow him on Twitter @SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.
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