Paranorman Review

Plot Summary:

Norman Babcock (Kodi Smit-McPhee) is a misunderstood boy who can talk to ghosts. On the 300th anniversary of his town's historic witch execution, Norman must face zombies, ghosts, and adults to save his town from an old curse.

The Positives:

Paranorman is the second feature from animation studio Laika. Their debut feature Coraline had great stop-motion animation, funny jokes, a wonderful story, and a genuinely creepy tone. While not as strong as Coraline, Paranorman has a lot of great stuff to offer.

The stop-motion animation is unshockingly beautiful. I'd say the technology behind it has improved since Coraline. The skin and the hands look very lifelike and the characters' emotions look great too. I think more studios should invest in stop-motion instead of CGI if they want lifelike results.

The humor is very well-done here as well. While it has slapstick humor for kids, there is a lot of fun in store for the adults. There are a lot of hilarious adult jokes that cross the boundary for it being a family film at times. Paranorman takes risks here that most family films wouldn't and I strongly approve of the humor for that reason.

The voice cast is spot-on here. Smit-McPhee does a great job as Norman. It's always a pleasure to hear the voices of Anna Kendrick, Casey Affleck, and John Goodman. Their voices fit perfectly with the characters' personalities and I feel Laika should be commended for picking such a great voice cast.

I really enjoyed the plot. Instead of Coraline's creepy tone, Paranorman offers a nice throwback to early 70's monster films telling its story. While the humor crosses boundaries at times, the theme of diversity and acceptance is great for kids. Kids can learn a lot from this film.

The Negatives:

While I truly enjoyed Paranorman, there was a few slight problems I had with it. I said earlier that I enjoyed the film's theme of diversity. However, the last 20 or so minutes are a little overpreachy, explaining the message a few more times than necessary.

I enjoyed what they did with the story as well. However, there are a few plot points that could have been great twists, but instead turned out to be predictable. This did not get in the way of me enjoying the film though, as there are a lot of twists to be shown throughout.

Conclusion:

It's not as good as Coraline nor should it be compared to. Paranorman is a lot of fun for the whole family. Its incredible stop-motion animation, great voice cast, clever humor, and wonderful story differentiate this film from other current family films. In a year of disappointing animated films, Paranorman shines and I am confident to say that this is the first safe bet for a Best Animated Feature nomination.

Rating: 9 out of 10