Even if you watch this flick in hope of a creative visual style alone, it's one ugly film. The color scheme of both reality and fantasy worlds in the film is full of bright, obnoxious, oversaturated colors. (The film even teases viewers with a minute or two of merciful black-and- white scenes.) You could count the legitimately creative character/background designs on one hand; most of the "surreal" scenes in the movie revolve around shuffling actors in lame, embarrassing costumes. This complements the complete lack of subtlety in the film's concepts and humor in general; the film relies heavily on its "jokes" but none of them provoked even the tiniest smirk in my audience. Apparently the filmmakers decided they needed to hit their viewers over the head with even the most elementary-school-level butt jokes.
The stop-motion animation is competent, but the direction of the human actors is constantly stilted and flat. I guess it's intended to be "cartoonish" but instead it comes across as amateurish and pandering, as if Selick and co. assumed audiences wouldn't recognize comedy unless everyone in the movie acted like spastic, one-dimensional clowns. There is no attempt to make any character relatable or likable; even the "mild-mannered nice guy" protagonist is a wormy, self-pitying loser from the get-go.
Lastly, the film is painfully sexist as well, with constant portrayal of woman as sex objects in a pathetic effort to add some adult appeal. Again, the film can't attract viewers with anything clever, original or meaningful but instead uses the most pandering and insulting methods possible. Only watch this mess if you're terribly easily-amused or possibly if you haven't aged 15 yet.
The stop-motion animation is competent, but the direction of the human actors is constantly stilted and flat. I guess it's intended to be "cartoonish" but instead it comes across as amateurish and pandering, as if Selick and co. assumed audiences wouldn't recognize comedy unless everyone in the movie acted like spastic, one-dimensional clowns. There is no attempt to make any character relatable or likable; even the "mild-mannered nice guy" protagonist is a wormy, self-pitying loser from the get-go.
Lastly, the film is painfully sexist as well, with constant portrayal of woman as sex objects in a pathetic effort to add some adult appeal. Again, the film can't attract viewers with anything clever, original or meaningful but instead uses the most pandering and insulting methods possible. Only watch this mess if you're terribly easily-amused or possibly if you haven't aged 15 yet.