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 Frankenweenie (2012) 

What grade would you give this film?
A 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
B 43%  43%  [ 3 ]
C 57%  57%  [ 4 ]
D 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
F 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
Total votes : 7

 Frankenweenie (2012) 
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loyalfromlondon
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Post Frankenweenie (2012)
Frankenweenie

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Frankenweenie is a 2012 3D black-and-white stop motion science fiction and comedy horror film directed by Tim Burton. It is a remake of Burton's 1984 short film of the same name and is a parody of and an homage to the 1931 film Frankenstein based on Mary Shelley's book of the same name. In the film, a boy named Victor loses his dog, named Sparky and uses the power of science to resurrect him. The film was released by Walt Disney Pictures on October 5, 2012 and met with positive reviews and moderate box office sales. It was the first black-and-white feature film and the first stop-motion film to be released in IMAX 3D.

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Fri Oct 05, 2012 12:43 am
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Post Re: Frankenweenie (2012)
This unfolds as an unrealized idea of a perfect Tim Burton picture. Each element is in place, from an isolated, sensitive protagonist to a high style defined by a blend of the gothic and the suburban. And the film, to its credit, has definite moments of excitement, wit, and macabre humor. Yet it is also more than a tad paint by numbers; I hate to psychoanalyze a director I admire, but I sense Burton's creative comfort zone and enormous wealth were his downfall here. The craftsmanship is top-notch, but each move toward autobiographical weight, toward a real understanding of grief and imagination and the experience of an unusual child in a conformist environment, is inert. The earnest, shy, honest, and heartfelt center of films such as Ed Wood and The Nightmare Before Christmas is absent. The film never becomes more than a beautiful, but modest and unadventurous diversion, I am sad to report. And Burton lets a few rich characters and ideas slip right through his fingers; why, for example, is almost nothing done with the character of Elsa Van Helsing, a strange neighborhood girl voiced by a spot-on Winona Ryder? She is at first positioned as a love interest or at least confidante for our mad-junior-scientist hero, but proves inconsequential in the end.

C+

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Sat Oct 06, 2012 1:46 am
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Post Re: Frankenweenie (2012)
I was seriously hoping Burton would (in my opinion, wisely) change the ending, but he does not. Sparky truly dying at the end would be wrenching, yes, but could also convey an important and even beautiful point regarding life, death, grief, and memory; a way to introduce the idea of moving through and transcending grief to children. I know there is room for wish-fulfillment fantasy at the cinema, but Sparky returning from the dead again at the end feels a bit disingenuous and forced to me. It almost reminds me of how many family films push the storyline of divorced parents reconciling and reforming the "perfect" family unit versus learning to move ahead in new directions.

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Sat Oct 06, 2012 1:52 am
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Post Re: Frankenweenie (2012)
Saw this a week or so ago and forgot to post my comments.

I was disappointed. As usual for a Burton film it looks great and the animation is delightful, but the story is weak.

There are characters that are introduced as obvious antagonists (like the Mayor) or the love interest (the next door girl) who could have been removed completely without changing the story. And it takes so long to get to the action. The monsters should have appeared about midway through, and then the plot might have been a bit more fun.

And yeah, the dog should have stayed dead.

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Sat Oct 27, 2012 10:03 pm
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Post Re: Frankenweenie (2012)
Very nice movie. Made me cry :P. I love animals and have had a dog hit by a car so I was able to relate.

It's sad this was pretty much a Box Office dud. It was crazy to open a week after Hotel Transylvania.

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Fri Feb 01, 2013 1:32 am
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Post Re: Frankenweenie (2012)
I just finished watching it and I didn't have high expectations and I still left disappointed. It started out nice but it feels as if Burton is just on autopilot throughout the duration of the movie. The ending was also a huge copout, it was like the entire point of the movie was lost to give it a happy ending, which only made the movie that much more stupid. Still, it had some decent parts and I didn't hate it. I also enjoyed the score and loved the end credits song.

6/10

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Sun Feb 10, 2013 2:22 am
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Post Re: Frankenweenie (2012)
I get what everyone is saying about the ending but I was personally fine with a happy ending. Would have been pretty fucking depressing had he died... again.


Sun Feb 10, 2013 2:53 am
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Post Re: Frankenweenie (2012)
But it seriously takes away the entire meaning of the movie. It's supposed to be this movie that teaches kids about loss and all and how you move on and... Oh, he's still alive. Nevermind. It was fucking dumb.

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3. Nocturnal Animals
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9. The Lobster
10. Hell or High Water


Sun Feb 10, 2013 3:39 am
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Post Re: Frankenweenie (2012)
movies35 wrote:
But it seriously takes away the entire meaning of the movie. It's supposed to be this movie that teaches kids about loss and all and how you move on and... Oh, he's still alive. Nevermind. It was fucking dumb.


Umm, who says it's supposed to be a movie that teaches kids about loss? The world is dark enough and it was also sad enough early on. The dog did die once. If you want them to learn this lesson have them watch Marley & Me. Or Bridge To Terabithia. There are plenty of family movies with this lesson. This is a fantasy movie after all. There's nothing wrong with having a happy ending and it's the same ending as the original. It wouldn't have even made much sense if he'd died. What would the cause of his death be? Smoke inhalation? A dog that has to be juiced up every day to stay alive? This wouldn't have had an effect on him.

Victor's science teacher says that if an experiment is executed for the right reasons with the core ingredient of love that it will be successful. The ending fits with this.

Anyway, it's a kids movie for crying out loud. You can't really think the movie would end like that.


Sun Feb 10, 2013 4:17 am
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Post Re: Frankenweenie (2012)
I dunno, I dug its retro feel and ode to classic horror films, and liked that it was just unapologetically fun, without necessarily forcing a message or moralizing its audience. Sometimes it's nice for a kid's film to just stay entertaining, without becoming preachy (as the similar, but inferior, ParaNorman attests to). And this thing is just bursting with creativity and imagination; Burton hasn't been this inventive in a long time.

Perhaps the dog should've stayed dead, but nobody wants that ending.

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zwackerm wrote:
If John Wick 2 even makes 30 million I will eat 1,000 shoes.


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Thu Feb 14, 2013 11:26 am
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Post Re: Frankenweenie (2012)
It is quite good. And Martin Landau did his best Vincent Price. Last year was really good for animated films between this, Brave (which I adored), Rise of the Guardians (which is absolutely underrated), The Pirates! and ParaNorman.

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Thu Feb 14, 2013 11:33 am
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loyalfromlondon
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Post Re: Frankenweenie (2012)
And Wreck-It Ralph.

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Magic Mike wrote:
zwackerm wrote:
If John Wick 2 even makes 30 million I will eat 1,000 shoes.


Same.


Algren wrote:
I don't think. I predict. ;)


Thu Feb 14, 2013 11:34 am
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Post Re: Frankenweenie (2012)
Yes, that too, though while I liked it, I didn't love it as much as many others did. Even Madagascar 3 was miles better than its two predecessors.

Too bad The Lorax was crap.

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Thu Feb 14, 2013 11:47 am
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Post Re: Frankenweenie (2012)
Slight, but cute.

**½ (B-)

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