London Film Festival opening night: Frankenweenie

Mutts, Mayhem and the Macabre: Frankenweenie hits the sweet spots in a dark and innocent way.

Tim Burton has made a career out of the dark and twisted. His fairytale, which became The Nightmare Before Christmas has spawned an excess of merchandise, release, re-release, 3D release and 3D re-release to great success. The man who brought us Beetlejuice and paved the way for a Batman with an edge is back with a bang. He made it acceptable for Batman to unleash his violent frustration on Gotham’s underworld because he had his innocence stolen from him witnessing the grisly death of his parents. The same innocence that young Bruce Wayne had as a young boy returns in Victor Frankenstein.

Following his father’s advice directly leads to death of the only one who understands him and shared his world, his beloved dog Sparky. The scene when Sparky dies and the connection between him and his owner is lost reflects Victor’s despair and emptiness perfectly.

The young boy uses science to resurrect his dog and when man messes with nature, you know the rest.

Presented in black and white 3D, Frankenweenie has a surreal feel about it which complements the subject matter adding to the dark tone of the film. The comedic moments light up the screen and the touching story of innocence, childhood and the loss of innocence is presented in a way only Tim Burton could have delivered.

Adults and children alike will enjoy Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie and with half term holidays round the corner, Hallowe’en and Christmas coming up as well as an onslaught of merchandise related to the film available, it’s clear Tim Burton and Disney will hit the mark with this one which is destined to have a long shelf life at the box office and on home video/on demand.

Homages to Burton’s other works as well as the horror genre are done with gleeful delight and the film resurrects a feelgood factor missing from recent children’s films which have seen style take precedence over story and emotion. Wonderfully weaving the events of the story together with empathy and a reminder of innocence, Tim Burton brings a modern day stop motion classic that easily outdoes any CGI rivals in every stake.

Frankenweenie is a film that will undoubtedly be revisited again and again due to its ability to captivate the inner-child in all of us and dazzle with a different kind of spectacle that’s a visual delight. With mutts, mayhem and the macabre, Frankenweenie hits the sweet spot in a dark and innocent way.

Frankenweenie opens in UK theatres from October 17^th. A travelling exhibition on the making of the film is currently at the British Film Institute.