Norman is not your average kid, what is different about him you ask. Well he is able to see and talk with the dead. Some would look at this as being a curse, but in Norman's case it's the thing that will help him to save his town from an evil force. Teamed up with an oddball group of kids and a zombie Norman will stop at nothing to stop the evil trying to consume the town. Will he break the curse the town has or will they all succumb to it?!
Review: This film I have been awaiting to see for awhile, but missed it in theaters. I finally got to the awesomeness that is ParaNorman! Before even going into the film I knew I was in for a treat because this film was made by the makers of Coraline which I found visually amazing. Also this is a stop-motion film which I am glad to see is not a totally lost art form. The stop motion is done so masterful that it simply blew my mind, hell the whole process of how they do it blows my mind as well. Aside from the amazing visuals that this film has there is a great story to go with it. There is a fair balance of humor and scares to keep the story interesting, but it doesn't get scary to the point that it will scare kids away from watching it. The dark humor that they use from time to time is great and alot more adult will get it than the kids. There is a twist that I will not mention here that happens that I never seen coming.
The characters are great as well, each one of them have their own personality. Most of the personalities are stereotypical for that character, but that is what makes the film so good. Really Norman and his friend are the 2 that I saw as sticking out from the rest. The characters are comprised of the parents who love their son but don't believe he can see and talk to the dead, an annoying sister who is full of herself and thinks Norman is crazy, stereotypical dumb jock, ignorant small town folk, stereotypical bully, and last but not least a crazy hermit who warns Norman of the oncoming doom. The best part is that you get to know Norman quite well and in ways I felt bad for him about what he was going through and how no one would believe him, but he overcomes all in his way like you would expect. Also Norman is great because he has the coolest room in the world! Wall to wall Zombie stuff!
Overall this is truly one of the best films I have seen this year. It has a great balance of everything that makes it very much enjoyable to kids as well as adults. My son is 4 and he absolutely loved it of course he has been watching films like this for a bit, what I am getting at is even though it is safe for kids to watch please still use some discretion because not all kids will be able to handle it.
-Daniel "Damnation" Lee
Director: Sam Fell/Chris Butler
Genre: Kids/Horror/Comedy
Blu-ray Release Year: 2012
Theatrical Release Year: 2012
Time Length: 92 mins.
Company: Focus Features
Website:
www.focusfeatures.com
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