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| This still really is really descriptive of the characterizations |
Silas Lesnick over at ComingSoon.net, whom I follow on Twitter, posted late in the summer that he thought that ParaNorman was the most fun he'd had all year, which really piqued my interest in the film. What I found was something I did not expect, but I'll leave that to the review portion below.
SYNOPSIS
Norman lives in a small witch-obsessed New England and finds himself to be very different from other people: he can see and talk with dead people. Soon the town finds itself in a zombie crisis that only Norman is equipped to deal with.
REVIEW
This film was VERY different from what I thought it would be. I thought it would be another Tim Burton-esque wannabe claymation film. What it ended up doing was pushing Tim Burton to the back of the line of great claymation filmmakers.
The animation is very distinct and not as smooth as a Burton film, but I think that's a deliberate style choice. The world they create is not as macabre as I thought it would be (i.e. it had a lot more color contrast). The world they create is really fantastic.
They cover almost every base when it comes to stereotypical characters: the gooey-on-the-inside-bully, the over-dramatic-embarassed-of-her-little-brother teenage girl, the how-should-we-deal-with-our-strange-son parents, and the jock (who ends up surprising everyone at the end). The voice acting is great and really matches the atmosphere they are set in. The funniest thing to me was the extensive use of warm-ups in the wardrobes.
I didn't expect this film to have as much heart as it did. I REALLY felt it at the climax. Also it teaches an immensely important lesson to children, although I can't say that I recommend to small children because of the scary imagery.
The movie is SO funny. And not just fart-joke funny, but really clever.
CONCLUSION
Whether you're a horror film fan or a student of cinema, this movie is a home run on almost all fronts. The filmmakers really were able to package so many great elements into one animated movie. The PG rating is too low, IMO. 4.68/5 Stars.
As soon as I finished this film I took it straight to my family’s house and demanded them to watch it. What I loved best about this movie was the very moving message at the end. It totally caught me by surprise. And I really appreciated how they didn't wrap up that message in 5 minutes towards the end. It was drawn out, in a very good way. It made it possible for the themes of fear and forgiveness to really sink in and become fully realized within each of the character relationships. I also couldn't get enough of Norman’s friend Neil. He was absolutely hilarious.
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