ParaNorman Review!
ParaNorman is the much anticipated stop-motion film from Coraline creators Laika. The story revolves around young Norman Babcock (and sure, there aren’t a whole lot of kids called Norman these days, but it does make for an awfully good title) who can speak to dead people. He is a misunderstood kid; picked on, bullied and laughed at as by classmates, townsfolk and his own family, but when a witch’s curse unleashes zombies in his town, Norman uses his special skill to save the day.
The story isn’t new. It’s Chicken Little, but with zombies instead of aliens. But the basic structure acts as a springboard for the gags, twists and set pieces that ParaNorman has in abundance.
Crucially, the film never forgets that it is both a horror and a comedy, and that it is aimed at kids. This is an incredibly fine line that the makers have walked with style. It is not as scary as Coraline, but it is scary enough to maintain the tension and to ensure that many of the target audience watch it through their fingers. What’s more, it’s a very funny film; funnier than Coraline, and funnier than the vast majority of films aimed at this age group. It contains generous doses of verbal, physical, gross out, slapstick and self-referential humour that will have adults and kids laughing together.
It takes the audience through a wide gamut of emotions. They will laugh, jump, worry and on one occasion, audibly shudder. Laika is a studio that truly respects their audience, and understands exactly how far they can push both the horror and the humour. They’ve made a film that parents will worry about, discuss with their book group, and wait for reviews to see if their little darlings will be able to handle it. The kids, on the other hand, will lap it up.
ParaNorman is the most ambitious stop motion feature ever made (as their advertising assures us), with hugely detailed characters, large crowd scenes and fast chase sequences. And the animation is simply phenomenal; the occasional fingerprint or imperfection left in to remind the viewers that it is, in fact, stop motion rather than CGI. The hair and mouths in particular are beyond anything we’ve seen before in this art-form, and people with a professional interest may find themselves missing important plot points as they stare in awe at the movement of a fringe.
The film focusses primarily on the theme expressed in the tagline ‘you don’t become a hero by being normal,’ It shows the abnormal Norman on a journey from a misunderstood loner to town hero, but this is a film where the hero’s journey is less important than that of the supporting cast. Norman’s understanding and self-confidence grows over the course of the film, but it is the change of attitudes in the people surrounding him that is the most rewarding part of the film.
With a large supporting cast and a lot of exposition to get through, there is a heavy reliance on stereotype to flesh the characters out. The bully, the bimbo, the jock and the fat kid are all present, and don’t do a huge amount to break the mould. In a film that takes itself more seriously, this would be unforgivable, but in ParaNorman the time saved on character development is well used to expand the plot and squeeze in a few extra ‘dead body parts’ gags. Always a winner.
There are a couple of minor plot holes that a stingier reviewer might pick up on. There’s the fact that the multitude of ghosts our hero is tripping over at the start disappear completely once the ‘this is our hero, he’s different because he sees dead people’ stage of the movie is over, or the out of character support from the otherwise self involved sister at the critical moment…
But to dwell on these would be churlish when faced with a genuinely enjoyable, funny, clever film, made in breath-taking stop motion, that both kids and adults will undoubtedly love.