Viewed in
2012
Formats
Movie theater.
Premise
Norman is a bullied kid who can talk to ghosts. One day, he finds himself thrust into the middle of town-wide curse as the undead rise.
Liked
Strong focus on characters, having fun with the horror genres.
Disliked
Meandering moments in the second act.
Thoughts
Overall, it was very cute and sweet, in a gothic way.
It did a great job of consistently focusing on our hero, his flaws and character. You root for this kid, and during the climax (which could've easily been hijacked by special effects) you get a nice emotional payoff for Norman.
In addition, I really enjoyed the humor. I laughed out loud multiple times from the creative twists on numerous horror flick tropes. Personally, I'm not a big horror fan, but I felt like I got all the jokes and shout outs. Also helping was really good voice performances from Hollywood stars and unknowns. It was really interesting casting to have McLovin play a bully.
Animation-wise it was really strong. I'm aware they used 3D printers to create the stop-motion, and it was kind of a unique (though slightly odd) visual style. Without the usual "jerky" feel, it didn't feel like stop-motion, but it also didn't feel as "clean" as a pure CGI animation.
The main flaw was that it momentarily deviated from the hook of Norman's ability to speak to dead people during the second act. But the story eventually brought it back to full circle. I was also a little underwhelmed by the 3D. The brightness issue was solid considering the numerous shadows and dark scenes, but I never felt fully immersed in the world, nor got a kick out of things flying at me.
ParaNorman came from the same studio that brought the classic, Coraline. While not as great as that, (but then again, how many are?) it was still a good time for older kids and adults who like a little bite in their cute family-friendly flicks.
