Movie Review - ParaNorman

All I knew about ParaNorman was what I saw in the trailer.  I also knew that Studio Laika—the same studio that brought you Neil Gaiman’s Coraline—were the ones responsible for this movie.  If you’re like me, and the above is all you know, then you’re in for a treat.

As I wandered into the theater, I realized I was the only grown man without a smaller version of myself, in attendance.  You might think that’s weird, or call me a freak—like the main protagonist of the movie—but, let me explain.  I have a background in art, and I really appreciate all animated films, no matter if they’re 3d-animation or Claymation; made for children or for adults.

ParaNorman is unbelievable in its execution, and the creators should be patting themselves on the back for the astounding film they’ve created.  If you haven’t already seen the behind-the-scenes videos on youtube, do yourself a favor and visit.

Odds are, if you’re reading this review, than you already know slightly what the movie is about, so I won’t go crazy in the detail department.   ParaNorman, stars Norman, who’s basically the town weirdo and outcast.  Everyone knows that he’s the boy who claims to talk to the dead.  But it’s this boy, who no matter how badly he’s treated, will stop at nothing to save his family and the town from a centuries old curse.  There’s also a great moral lesson being shared here, which should make for good conversation with the kiddies at dinner time.

The first 15 to 20 minutes are spent meandering around with childish bathroom and bully jokes, which had me really turned off, but the children in the audience were laughing hysterically.  It’s funny because the parts that I really enjoyed toward the end of the movie, the children were in complete silence.  Anyway, after those initial 20 minutes of typical kid jokes, the actual story starts to take shape, and that’s where you earn the cost of the ticket.  What you’ve seen in the trailers has almost nothing to do with the actual story.  I’m not scared to say, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

The animation is incredible, and that’s down playing it.  Do you know what goes into creating a movie like this?  The effort, the time…the time and don’t forget the time.  It fascinates me, that there’s still studios out there, that will go down this road, instead of just pumping this stuff through a computer.  Not to say that there’s no time and effort behind computer animation, but Claymation is still astounding in my book.

The way they created the scenes with the witch in the sky still has my head spinning from the beautiful visuals.  What’s crazy is: you completely forget there all just models, and you get sucked right into Norman’s world, with no trouble.

Toward the end of the movie—when the story is really rocking and rolling—is when the film itself seemed to lose its younger audience, because it can get a little dark and a tad scary.  I was going to ask the 3 month old next to me what he thought, but it seemed it was his nap time, so I held back.

The only actual problem I see with ParaNorman is: the film has a hard time defining itself.  Is it a scary movie meant for young adults or a children’s movie geared toward kids that would rather pick their noses?  It seems Studio Laika tried to do both, and ended up with a film that was a little off balance.  But, trust me…if you feel a little foolish in the beginning, and you’re thinking “Why am I watching this children’s movie?” stick with it, you won’t regret it.

ParaNorman gets a solid 3 out 5 stars.