ParaNorman - Review
ParaNorman, the newest Laika stop-motion-animation film by the team behind the brilliant Coraline, is a total breath of fresh air. From the stunning sets and character design to the impeccable blending of CGI and stop-motion, this is one fun "kids" movie.
Norman isn’t like other kids. He watches TV with his dead grandma, plays with ghost dogs, and regularly converses with many of the ghosts in town. After a witch’s curse brings back 7 pilgrims from the dead, it’s up to Norman and a rag-tag team to put the zombies back where they belong and end the witch’s curse once and for all.
The standard was set pretty high after the Academy Award-nominated Coraline, but Laika has outdone themselves again with a finely crafted ode to good-old-fashioned horror. The story sucks you in almost instantly, and the characters are all fun and memorable. The action scenes are breathtaking and so many times I was left thinking how incredible it was that most of what I was looking at were simply photos. Millions of photos. Stop-motion-animation is just incredible! The vocal work is perfection too, without a single sour note of the bunch. Casey Affleck might have been my favorite, but honestly everyone contributed pretty equally and all seemed to be having fun.
If there’s a single negative thing to be said, it’s that this movie probably isn’t the best thing to take your children to see if they’re under the age of 5. Not only will the story probably be a little hard to follow, but there are a lot of adult jokes and such and most of all, it’s scary. Oh, and there’s a gay character. Yes, you read that right. ParaNorman actually has a gay character. So while I’m busy cheering, some parents will be angry I’m sure. To that I say, what did you expect? It had to happen sometime. Bravo, filmmakers.
ParaNorman is one of 2012’s must-see animated movies. Sure, there are plenty of good ones, but this is leagues better than the newest Ice Age movie and probably the most original concept for a kids movie in recent memory. I loved ParaNorman! / Rating: A+
