Today I watched Disney's Frankenweenie that was released in 2012 and found it to be very enjoyable, I don't know whether this because I was less expectant of what I was watching or whether its portrayal of the world created in the film just enveloped me into the story. The plot is a familiar story created by Mary Shelley called Frankenstein however disney has used Tim Burton to create a twist on the familiar tale and make it more approachable by a younger audience although it still contains the dark and sinister feel that Burton is known for but this just adds to the film as it helps to display the chaos and horror at bringing beings back from the dead.
Frankenweenie is about a young boy called Victor Frankenstein whose beloved dog Sparky dies when getting ran over during a game of baseball that causes a terrible amount of grief for the boy as he has lost what seemed to be his best friend. After a science lesson, Victor learns of a way to bring the dead to life using electricity in this case thunder to add a powerful and eerie effect. He goes to the graveyard and digs up his dog however we do feel the same repugnance and disgust we feel at the original story as he is not digging up random corpses in a bid to create a monster/ experiment, he is so full of grief he wants to bring back the thing he loves the most; so the creepy antics are forgiven and overlooked.
After succeeding we are treated to seeing a patched up Sparky with humour added when his tail falls off from too much wagging and Victors quick remark "I can fix that!" causes a chuckle. However this is not where the tale ends and as expected we are not treated to a happy ending straight away and there is quite a battle to get there. A child in Victor's class called 'Edgar' who put the creep into creepy see's that Sparky is alive and immediately uses that information against him. I have to admit that Edgar was one of my favourite characters throughout the film as he provided a underlying humour and it was hard not to laugh at his dinosaur walk and the teeth that were too big for his mouth.
Edgar betrays Victor's secret to the rest of the class and they all want to bring things back to life in order to win the science fair which reflects the innocence of children in not understand their actions and how actions do have consequences which they soon see when their creations appear as monsters and turn on them from a huge godzilla like tortoise called Shelley (very appropriate name) to lots of gremlin like sea monkeys bounding about the street. After seeing what they have created they all come to Frankenstein for help maybe due to the fact he knew how to creates so maybe he could be the one to destroy also. The encounters with the beings causes havoc around town and one by one the children get rid of the scary creations. The best death by popcorn was one that had me laughing as the sea monkeys exploded upon contact with the salt and I also let out a bit of a snigger at the face off between the big tortoise and the little creature that looked like a guinea pig mummy, I was preparing for a battle between the two and was surprised and amused when the tortoise just stepped on the guinea pig and that was the end of that action.
The final face off is between Elsa Van Helsing and her pet dog and a bat cat and in steps he two heros of the piece - Victor and his dog Sparky who fight til the death at the windmill. Only three are left standing and our heartbreaks for a second time when Victor loses Sparky again. But that isn't the end, the community gather together and all devote their car engines in a bid to return Sparky to life and when it seems like it hasn't worked we are again treated to a flick of the paw and quick wag of a tale. Sparky lives again!
I really liked this film and even though its in black and white throughout it didn't put me off, if anything I feel it added to the intrigue and spooky tone of the film. Burton once again brings a story to life with the whole piece, from the characters to the plot to the settings. I expect that families would enjoy watching this film together as it has something to offer everyone, but I do warn the characters could be seen as scary by some children when I saw the diverse classroom full of children I did cringe back from the screen a bit and the wide eyed and creepy animations I saw on my TV but grew to understand and love the range of weird and strangeness of them as the film went on. The only thing I questioned was why when Sparky was brought back to life although he was physically altered he remained the same dog personally however when others were brought back they were immediately turned into monsters, I think this hole in the plot could have been explained better, I put this down to the fact that when Victor revived Sparky he did it out of love not greed or pride so Sparky remained normal.
Personally, I feel the film would get a rating of 3.5 out of 5 as although I liked the film and would watch it again in a heartbeat, I would have liked to see a bit more action. Frankenweenie managed to get some emotion out of me though as it pulls at the heartstrings with the relationship between man (Victor) and mans best friend (Sparky) and when I finished the film I could not help but go give my dog a cuddle and be thankful. The film is full of beautiful animation, I particularly liked when Victor was lay in bed and the shadows of rain bouncing on his window was cast across him and also thought the scenes in the pet cemetery had a impact like when Sparky was afraid and ran back to where he was buried and hid by his gravestone. With its mixture of humour, darkness, action and emotions, I recommend watching this film.
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