ParaNorman (2012)

Dir: Chris Butler, Sam Fell

Starring: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Anna Kendrick, Christopher Mintz-Plasse

                From the people who brought you Coraline comes a story of an outsider and the living dead.

                Norman (Kodi Smit-Mcphee) is a misunderstood kid, bullied because he claims he can see and talk to ghosts. His parents and sister don’t understand him, especially since he claims his dead Grandmother is sitting in their living room. Norman becomes friends with fellow outcast Neil (Tucker Albrizzi) who believes in Norman’s gift. Norman and Neil team up with their siblings and school bully to stop zombies rising because of a witches curse.

                ParaNorman is a film for children, that doesn’t treat them like children. It has a good line in dark humour and can even be a little scary at times. It contains plenty of in jokes and references to horror films which will go far over the heads of the young ones. The film is made by people with a love for the genre, people who like Norman, watched horror films as a child.

                The film, as you would expect, looks great with a blend of stop motion animation and CGI. The voice acting is good and the soundtrack, particularly when any zombies are on screen, has synth references to George A Romero zombie films and other horror films of the 70’s and 80’s.

                ParaNorman is often funny but unfortunately it is never hilarious. The characters and references create chuckles but I was hoping for more hilarity throughout.  It does however, build to a very good climax. At turns beautiful and scary it is a brave ending for a film mostly aimed at children, with a message about prejudice and acceptance.

                Very well made and a lot of fun, ParaNorman is a film for both kids and adults. I just wish it had been even funnier.

4 Out of 5 Buttons