Chris Butler, whose previous jobs have included work on "Coraline" and "The Corpse Bride", has finally taken the helm as writer-director of "ParaNorman", a dead-on animation flick about a lonely outcast who must save his town of idiots from ye olden curse set upon them by a colonial witch. Funny, smart and ghoulishly creepy, Butler knows how to deliver to kids while at the same time keeping parents entertained as well.
Norman seems like every other 11-year-old boy. He's probably mildly good at athletics, average intelligence, has a big heart and a lot of courage. Norman's dad is a hard ass, his mom is a limp-wristed leftist (so says dad) and his teenage sister is pretty, popular and self-obsessed. A good ol' all-American family. Oh, I forgot grandma. Grandma is dead, but that doesn't stop Norman from talking to her. In fact, it doesn't stop him from talking to centuries worth of ghosts who float about his town. This might be an okay gift/curse were Norman not dumb enough to tell everyone in his town that he talks to dead people. Maybe that's why nobody likes him...
Norman will soon find himself an unlikely hero, however, when his small town's claim to fame, a witch sentenced to death at the hands of seven town elders hundreds of years ago, returns from the dead and awakens zombies to wreak havoc. It will be up to Norman and his incredible power--along with some help from his sister, his new best friend Neil, and Neil's hunky older brother--to stop the curse, the zombies, and the witch all before bedtime. No small feat, right?
It's obvious that Butler was very much inspired by Tim Burton and Henry Selick while working on his last projects. "ParaNorman" is a beautifully rendered stop-motion animated film which has taken the craft to a whole new level. I don't appreciate many things in cinema more than I do stop-motion. After all, working meticulously one can capture about 19 seconds of film a day. But when the result is so good you can't really argue with long productions. Butler has taken things a step further, not only using the painstaking puppetry, but combining it with dazzling CGI. It's all a bit more high-tech than Burton's literal smoke and mirrors in "The Nightmare Before Christmas".
I liked this film very much. It certainly was not as inventive as "Nightmare" or as dark and rich as "Coraline", but Butler has definitely given himself a good foothold in this area of work. The spectacle of it all will keep everyone in the crowd entertained even as the story drags a bit, and some of the gag bits are very good leading up to breathtaking and very emotional climax.
What was most endearing about the whole project was the way in which Butler didn't sacrifice his vision for the sake of a quick buck. Sure, the film might be a bit scary for the youngest of the young, and sure, some of the jokes might be a bit risque, but that just means that there's something for everyone. There are far too many kid's movies out there who pander to their young audience with gross-out gags and fart jokes (come to think of it there are far too many adult movies like that too) that never stop and think that mom and dad might not like to have $10 of their own money wasted in the theatre. Butler thinks of them too, and I respect that.
I didn't laugh out loud all that much, but I must say the movie held a very amused smile on my face for most of it. I liked all of the horror film references and the plentiful amount of clever jokes. And when those weren't there I could still just sit back and enjoy Butler's gorgeously painted labors reaping rewards.
3/4
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