Frankenweenie (2012)
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Frankenweenie Movie Review
Frankenweenie is a 2012 animated horror film directed by Tim Burton. It’s one of his most disappointing movies.
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“Science is not good or bad, Victor.
But it can be used both ways.
That is why you must always be careful“
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A boy named Victor loses his dog, a Bull Terrier named Sparky, and uses the power of electricity to resurrect him, but is then blackmailed by his peers into revealing how they too can reanimate their deceased past pets and other creatures, resulting in total mayhem.
It’s a solid plot that is obviously very much an homage to ‘Frankenstein’ and it works as an homage with the dog at the center being the only huge difference, but I wanted more originality in other areas. The beginning is slow, but memorable and the ending is fine, but the middle part is very problematic.
I am of course talking about the movie’s pace which is very slow to the point of becoming a major drag. That’s because the film was adapted from the eponymous short movie that Burton did in the eighties and it’s obvious that it was meant to be a short and not a feature as it’s stretched to an hour and a half needlessly so.
Yes, that led to more emotion and better characterization, but it also created a huge pacing issue in the second act which also felt too silent as the movie overall lacks dialogue a bit too much for my personal taste. But I did love its giant heart as it wears it proudly on its sleeves. And as a dog lover myself, I was so happy to witness the movie showcase the importance of having a pet and especially how a child’s bond with the pet can be so big.
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Victor Frankenstein is a solid protagonist and your typical Burton oddball well suited for this type of movie. Sparky is so damn cute and lovable and I loved the relationship between the two and all of their interactions were super cute. The other characters including the kids are less memorable, but overall they serve their purpose in the context of the story. The voice acting is very good across the board.
Frankenweenie is a stop-motion animated film which was to be expected to be his chosen style as Burton had already done ‘Corpse Bride’ before this one. Although this movie isn’t as visually dazzling as the said one, it’s still very strong and in particular I appreciated that it was filmed in black-and-white which was an absolutely perfect choice having in mind that ‘Frankenstein’ was also a black-and-white movie from 1931. I loved how crisp the movie looks and in particular the character designs are pleasantly goofy and old-fashioned and weird.
The entire movie is quite weird and with a strong eccentric sensibility to it. However, the tone is really troublesome. Whereas the flick is quite dark for children, it’s not as dark or scary enough to be memorable to adults and thus it ended up being in that uncomfortable middle pack. I certainly wanted more horror elements from it and was disappointed in that regard.
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As for the dialogue, it’s too sparse, but when it’s there, it’s solid. The same goes for the characterization and the overall script. The emotional engagement is strong throughout and the score is good too. Overall, it’s one of Burton’s solid, but less remarkable efforts.
Frankenweenie is gorgeously animated and the black-and-white visual choice was definitely right. The characters are also fine and the movie most certainly has a huge heart and a wonderful oddball sensibility to it. However, it’s just solid and overall far from great owing to a particularly slow pace, an obviously stretched narrative and overly sparse dialogue throughout.
