Random Movie Review - ParaNorman

Now for all the right reasons, a lot of stop-motion films tend to do well both critically and commercially because of the fact that they take far longer than most films to be made. That's because unlike most films, stop-motion is something that would generally require several shots and takes in order for it to work well and you have to admit, a lot of work goes into these films and it shows. Say all you want about CGI, but if you actually want to make a great film that critics and audiences instantly tell how much work goes into that film, do stop motion or at the very least, take your time with the film and ignore those money munching executives that tell you to rush it. Anyway, so created by American stop-motion company Laika (the people behind Coraline and the more recent Boxtrolls), this is the story of a boy who can talk to ghosts (or so we think anyway):

Our story takes place in the small town of Blithe Hollow, Massachusetts where a boy called Norman Babcock (voiced by that boy in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Kodi Smit-McPhee) lives and has the unusual and creepy ability to talk to the dead. A troubled boy, he is isolated emotionally by his family and ridiculed by his peers. But that doesn't mean he hasn't got friends when in fact, he has well, just one friend. An overweight and typically bullied boy called Neil Downe (voiced by Tucker Albrizzi) who often finds Norman to be a kindred spirit. During a rehearsal for a play about the witch trials from 3 centuries ago, Norman has a vision about this event, which then leads him to being confronted by his odd uncle called Mr. Penderghast (played by everyone's favourite average man, John Goodman) who tells his nephew that he is to take up his regular ritual to protect the town and moments later (small spoiler alert), he dies. And it looks like Norman may not know what's coming and must be prepared for it.

While it does play out like a typical children's film, this is one kid's film that will both entertain and frighten them to a great extent. But with that aside, I actually found this film to be rather good. The animation is top notch, the story and characters are great and its just another one of those few films that tries at doing something new that the horror genre hasn't talked about yet (or to a great exent at least). But I can't finish this review without the mention of a character that may have children question about his well, sexuality because in a surprise move for a children's film, they threw in a small but noticeable adult joke in there which didn't bother me much, but I did kind of think "those sneaky pests". Nevertheless, a great film that's worth at least one sit through. 9/10