PARANORMAN Review
By Darin Skaggs
In 1968 George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead came out. This was one of the first films
out of the zombie films genre. Many
films of the genre have been made since then, but in recent years it has become
very popular with more films being made, books on how to survive and others
taking on classics such as Pride and
Prejudice and Zombies. Recently, I
thought that the zombie phenomenon was almost dead, pun intended, but with the
new stop motion animated film Paranorman has
given it more life to the zombie fad and even gives it a twist.
In
Chris Butler and Sam Fell’s new film, Paramorman
a young boy named Norman can see dead people. He is not haunted by this fact nor is he mad
about it. He is or has come to peace
with his special power. Everyone around
Norman thinks he is weird and a freak.
He is bullied and looked down upon by his peers and even some of his
family for what he says he can do. Then
out of nowhere Norman’s uncle, wonderfully voiced by John Goodman, comes to
warn him that a witch who was executed 300 years ago is going to come back and
curse the town and he needs Norman’s help.
Norman sets out to help his uncle and the town while facing zombies,
witches and intense visions.
Like
I mentioned before this film is a stop motion animated film and they do an
amazing job with this film. The film,
even though it’s about the dead, looks strangely beautiful. The colors of the film mix together well. The
animators create a wonderful world, from the many shapes and looks of the
people along with the building structures inside and out.
The
film is about a young boy, it’s animated and the marketing for the film makes
it seem to be for children. Despite all
that this film’s age circuit is actually for an older audience. The film has several scary moments and some
of the jokes in the film have a little more mature material and not subjects that
young kids will understand or be aware of.
This is not a complaint about the film however. The scares in the film are well done and all
the jokes work.
Besides
being a great hilarious young person zombie film this film also has a great
theme. Norman has accepted his strange
ability, but in the beginning of the film nearly no one else has accepted it. His parents are telling him to stop talking
to his dead Grandmother, his classmates bully him and his sister wants nothing
to do with him. The most haunting part
of Norman’s life is not seeing dead people; it is that nobody understands him. That is what the film is about, accepting the
“weirdness” in people and dealing with people that have trouble accepting who
you are. There are even parallels with some of the villain like characters and
Norman with having to be accepted by others, that work really well in the film.
The
film is short, but affective. It has frightening
moments and great jokes. It has a
wonderful message and an emotional finale that will make you want to spend time
with your friends and family. Paranorman is one of the greatest
animated films of the year, if not the best.
