Movie Review: ParaNorman [2012]

So if you have me on Facebook or Twitter [or for some of you; both], you'd be already aware that this review was inevitable.. So here I am, sharing my thoughts on something I'd call one of my new favorite stop motion animation movies: ParaNorman.

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According to IMDb, The movie ParaNorman is [in short] about 'A misunderstood boy who can speak with the dead, takes on ghosts, zombies and grown-ups to save his town from a centuries-old curse.' Now as with all reviews [or atleast, MY reviews], there is to be spoilers coming up; so if you haven't seen the movie yet [it is fairly new] do not read further, unless of course, you're okay with spoilers..
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The movie begins with a zombie eating a woman, and you can clearly tell that this is a scene from a movie within the movie [inception much?] and we learn of Norman watching an old horror movie with his grandmother, who turns out to be deceased. [below- his grandmother talking]

Through out the movie, we learn that Norman can actually speak to ghosts and for the first 80 percent of the movie, everyone finds that he's looking for attention, and that he's different. [There are even scenes where people have written 'FREAK' on his locker] Now there is one kid- Neil, who actually becomes his friend [Left to Right: Neil, Norman]

I found through out the movie, he was probably one of the best characters. I find that he has a positive outlook on life, and actually helps Norman out. [Neil was bullied as well, but told Norman that you can't stop that kind of thing..] I found through out the movie, there was a lot of fun characters [including a gay one, which we don't learn of his sexuality until the end] and the animation was superb. One character in particular stuck out; Courtney. Courtney is Norman's sister, and she is the stereotypical blonde we hear/read jokes about. Let me make it easier for you;

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Now throughout the movie, every time I heard Courtney speak, she sounded familiar; like I knew the voice actress.. It wasn't til the end credits, that I figured it out.. It was none other than Anna Kendrick.. y'know: She was in Scott Pilgrim VS The World- as Scott's sister ! Here, let me show you a picture.

[Not even close to being a stereotypical blonde, and obviously a lot more attractive than her character counter-part..]

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When it comes to some of the things I liked about ParaNorman, there was a lot I could mention. For starters, I like the fact that it was animated [I can't imagine that movie being live action..] and that there were references to horror movies.

I mean look at all those posters ! [some of them, if you look carefully enough, were drawn by Norman] But I think one of the best parts about this film is how it's supposed to be a children's movie, yet there is so many references to adult themes, such as [as mentioned before] a gay character, violence, a lot of bullying, etc. The one thing that stood out is that there is a feeling of Chicken Little in the sense that every time Norman speaks to a ghost, everyone looks at him like he's nuts. [Okay, bad example] Yet, when the world actually starts to tear apart, and he learns of the zombies coming; he starts yelling that 'The dead are coming!' and everyone looks at him weird again, his Dad actually gives him trouble on the way home from school telling him he's well ashamed of his son- [the whole car driving discussion happened in Chicken Little too..], but apart from those two little things I found irritating, I actually highly recommend this movie to everyone who enjoys the occasional zombie flick- cause this one was done well, on that note; I leave you with a few pictures from the movie. . CHEERS

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