FRANKENWEENIE

FRANKENWEENIE
GRADE: A –

Reviewed by Paul Gibbs

Finally, Tim Burton has made a truly good film again. While I found Dark Shadows relatively entertaining,  of his last 8 live-action films I only considered Big Fish and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to be truly good (I know Charlie has a lot of detractors due to the understandable backlash against Hollywood’s obsession with remakes, but between  tone I found to overall closer to the book than that of the musical, and Freddie Highmore being a much stronger actor than Peter Ostrum, I liked the film). But Burton’s latest animated film reminded me just how good the quirky filmmaker can be when he’s actually “on”,.

                Victor Frankenstein is a young boy who loved science and his dog Sparky. When Sparky dies after a tragic accident, Victor is devastated. Soon, Victor hatches a plan to use his talent for science to bring Sparky back. Obviously, the plot is a reworking of Mary Shelley’s classic Frankenstein, and this is actually a feature-length remake of a live-action short that helped get Burton fired from Disney for his weirdness. But Tim gets the last laugh, as Disney is the studio behind this version.  The stop motion animation is as terrific as it was in Burton’s previous efforts The Nightmare Before Christmas (directed by Henry Selick) and Corpse Bride, and screenwriter John August has fleshed out the characters, and also added a great deal of humor. The biggest laughs come from Victor’s science teacher, voiced by Martin Landau. In fact, these may be the biggest laughs I’ve gotten in a movie this year. The rest of the voice cast which includes Martin Short, Catherine O’Hara and Winona Ryder, is also strong.

But  what really makes the story work is its heart. The vast majority of Burton’s best films have a genuine sweetness beneath the gothic weirdness, and Victor provides Burton with one of his most likable heroes. The film loses a little bit of its charm in the more frenetic third act (though there is quite a bit of entertainment value to be found there), but, thankfully, in the end the warmth comes through. Burton has created  touching, hilarious and all around entertaining film that is up there with his strongest efforts, and will become a new Halloween classic. Welcome back, Tim.  Please stay a while.