Paranorman

I am so sorr...no, you know what, I’m not! So far I have received no comments, not response and no critiques of my writing. If I wish to take a break, then so be it. Well, that’s my rant over, let’s review Paranorman.

When I first saw the trailer, I’m sure I thought the same thing as everyone else: What the heck! While the idea of stop-motion is not new to us, this style seemed almost like Flushed Away, which had characters and settings in a stop-motion design but crafted by CGI. It also seemed to try to recreate Coraline, a creepy adventure for all the family to enjoy. While I hold that Coraline is definitely a more creative and imaginative film, after watching this, I don’t see why it was so swept under the carpet.

For example, when watching the trailer, one would assume the story to be that a boy can see the dead walking and talking (AHEM! The Shinning, Sixth Sense ‘Cough’ ) and he is the only one to save his town from a horde of zombies. Well that is there, but that makes up about 20% of the story. The rest is centered on Norman and his ability to see things others can’t and how it humiliates him and alienates others. Meanwhile, a curse on the town is in danger of coming true, allowing a Witch of the Salem Witch trials to enact her vengeance.

While the scares that exist here are primarily for the kids, not many of them scare me even if I was 10-13. But the best aspect of this film I have gotta say is the freaking humour. I mean, my god, every joke delivered is right on the mark, be it verbal, visual, implied or subtle. And not just puns (in fact there are barely any of those), but double-ettendre’s, childish acts in adults, mature acts in the kids, one joke in particular is when Norman is told to swear an oath and he asks “Do you mean the F-word”. And every character gets a laugh, all due to the stellar cast behind the scenes. Some awesome actors here, including Anna Kendrick (Up in the Air, Pitch Perfect), Leslie Mann (The 40 year old Virgin, Knocked up), Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Superbad, Kick-Ass) and John Goodman (Oh Brother where art thou, Monsters Inc).

I must also give praise to the dialog and mannerisms of the different age range all being natural. You listen to them and say ‘yeah, even my kids talk like that’. They also suit the characters voice actor, like Mintz-Plasse being a looser/wannabe tough guy, Anna being a snarky/ eye-rolling teen and Goodman being insane (that’s it, he’s pretty much insane in almost every role). And the plot and character development of the main, support and antagonistic characters are sure to catch everyone off, especially for Mitch.

That being said however, it comes as no surprise one of the main reasons the film may have been forgotten among animation/film buff’s is due to some of the harsher, sometimes darker elements in this film and some of the adult humour I will admit might either confuse the youth or disgust the parents who watch this movie with them. Also I have a major criticism for some of the dialog being awkward, stilted or unnecessary padding. And then there is Tucker Albrizzi who plays Neil. The character himself isn't bad, but the voice acting to me is forced, not much effort is put in and sounds unprofessional. I’m sure he’s a nice kid, I don’t I never met him, but I don’t think acting through his voice is his niche.

But why end on a sour note, for the animation is actually some of the best I have seen and its stop-motion (Have I mentioned that yet?). Each character has their own design with exaggerated anatomy and all the monsters are equally as well designed.

Speaking of the monsters, the third act is by far the best, with an epic battle against the witch, a tearful resolution and an intense moral lesson. To tell the truth, this is destined to be one of the best Halloween cult classics, up there with Halloween, Evil Dead and Nightmare before Christmas. Watching this, all I can think of is Halloween...and Thanksgiving for some reason. 

«««««