RATING: PG 
STUDIO: DISNEY
RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 5, 2012 

As a devoted Tim Burton fan, I must say that I was quite excited when I saw that he was turning his 1984 live-action film “Frankenweenie” into a stop-motion animated feature film. Now, I have to admit that when I was going to watch this film – especially, having seen the original, I did not have very high expectations. Yet, it is the newest release from Tim Burton, so I couldn’t really refuse watching it at least once.

I was quite pleasantly surprised at the quality of this film. As denoted by the trailers and promotional commercials, this movie is primarily about a boy and his dog:  When Victor’s dog, Sparky, dies, he pulls a Dr. Frankenstein to bring his friend back from the grave. It’s, honestly, kind of a weirdly charming parody of Frankenstein.

One thing that I absolutely loved about this presentation of the film was that it was done in black and white. Since the movie was already made in stop-motion animation (typical of Burton’s animated films), filming it in black and white was a gamble of a move for Tim Burton. This, however, was a gamble worth taking. It added to both, the nuance and ambiance, of the film. It definitely gave it that special Tim Burton flair that his fans quite love, and he didn’t even have to use Johnny Depp!

The story itself is a cute one. It’s got its light-hearted moments. It has its tearjerker moments. Really, who doesn’t love a story about a science genius boy bringing his best friend back to life?  Not to mention the constant monster movie references!

I really don’t have anything negative to say about this film. Even being a devout Burton fan, I don’t think that I’ve enjoyed one of his films this much since Edward Scissorhands (1990) and The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993). It was quite a treat.

Now, one thing to keep in mind about this movie, should you decide to take small children to it, is that it is a Tim Burton film. You’ll see body parts sewn together and falling off.  Also, the dog dies twice. Although it’s rated PG, if you don’t want your kids watching The Nightmare Before Christmas, then you probably won’t like them watching this film.

With that said, I can easily give this film a 4/5. It’s one that I will definitely be pre-ordering when it gets ready to hit the shelves.

If you haven’t seen this move, do it! It’s a great investment if you want to go see a flick at your local cinema and you’ll (more than likely) be as pleasantly surprised as I was.