ParaNorman:
Norman, an 11-year-old with a love of horror films, claims he can speak with the dead. Of course, his family and peers think he's crazy. Unbenknownst to them, Norman can speak to dead people, who are his friends. When his crazy uncle shows up, he warns Norman of a witch's curse upon the town, and that he must stop it by reading from a book by sunset a few nights later at the witch's grave. When the uncle dies before he can tell Norman anything further, his ghost returns to tell Norman a few days later that he must stop the curse that night. When Norman is distracted from his reading by Alvin, a local bully, zombies of the Puritans who founded his small town return, and the witch starts to cause destruction in the town. Norman must gather his fat friend Neill, his sister, Alvin, and Neill's jock brother to stop the curse and defeat the witch. From this premise, the film actually doesn't sound all that good, but I must say, it should take the place of Frankenweenie/Hotel Transylvania on my top 20 list. The stop-motion animation is astoundingly beautiful. I was intrigued from the opening scene that parodies grindhouse films. The film also has some big-name actors doing voices, such as Anna Kendrick, Casey Affleck, Jeff Garlin, John Goodman, Christopher Mintz-Plasse (McLovin), Leslie Mann, and Bernard Hill. Kodi Smit-McPhee, Tucker Albrizzi, and Jodelle Micah Ferland
are great young voice actors, who really do a great job bringing their animated characters to life. Although not as under-your-skin creepy as Coraline, this film has some great scary moments, as well as some great comedy. Some of the jokes are actually more subtle and more adult than expected. The film's climax also has a twist that I felt was a pretty dark and bold move for a kid's movie, and the resolution is very sweet. The film has the perfect balance of horror, comedy, family fare, and drama that I think makes it one of the best animated features of the year, maybe the best. The film also has some great music, including The White Stripes' song "Little Ghost", and Donovan's hit "Season of the Witch" (used in the trailer, sung by kids in the movie). ParaNorman is heartfelt, scary, funny, and thought-provoking, an instant classic. I hope to see more of Norman sometime soon. 5/5 stars.
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