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.
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