Norman isn’t exactly the coolest kid in his school. His hair sticks up, his ears stick out, and everybody thinks that he’s kind of a weirdo. But you’d probably come off as being a weirdo too if you were the only one in town who could see and talk to all of the ghosts that haunt the place. When Norman isn’t watching horror movies with his dead grandmother, he’s playing in the yard with his friend’s dead dog, or having public freak outs due to visions of ancient evils and witch’s curses. Heck, the kid’s behavior is so erratic that even his parents are getting impatient with him. But there’s something to be said for those witchy visions. It turns out the whole town has been cursed, and if Norman can’t figure out how to put a stop to it, then the dead will rise from their graves and it’s going to be hell on Earth. If only he wasn’t such a spastic dork, maybe he could get somebody to give him a hand.
ParaNorman is the second feature film from stop-motion animation studio Laika, and though I’ve yet to see their first, Coraline, the level of the artistry on display here has convinced me that I need to fix that as soon as possible. ParaNorman, quite simply, is a breathtaking example of a strong artistic vision surviving from concept to execution. The town of Blithe Hollow that has been created for this film is so well realized, so expansive, and so lived in, that it’s an absolute wonder to behold. And the same goes for all of the creatures, living or otherwise, that inhabit it. There’s something so delightful about how asymmetrical the design of everything in this film is. All of the characters, all of the sets, they look hand-crafted and charming, but are still unmistakably the work of immensely talented individuals. The design sense, and the stop-motion technique in general, goes such a long way toward separating this film from the usual crop of photo-real, artificially exact, computer generated animation that come out these days. It makes ParaNorman stand out from the crowd; kind of like its protagonist.
The visuals aren’t the only standout element of this movie either. The script that directors Chris Butler and Sam Bell are working with is good, so good that this one is bound to entertain more than just the kids in the audience. Too often movies brand themselves as “family” films, but really they’re just disposable crap served up for the kiddies, with one or two hidden sex jokes to keep the adults in the audience from slitting their wrists. ParaNorman is smart, and it tells its story and crafts its characters so well that it really will appeal to every member of the family, no matter their age. The dialogue is sneakily clever, and its full of enough subtly funny gags that even if only half of them hit, you’re still going to find yourself chuckling throughout. The characters are all unique and so well-defined by the third act that when they all come together for the big showdown with the mystical monsters, it’s a real delight watching them bounce off each other. There may be one title hero, but ParaNorman often plays like a great ensemble.
Other than a dead (pun!) moment or two in the middle, the story is structured well too. The first act gets all of the players established, and is so charming in the process that the getting-to-know-you portion stays fun, then the conflict gets introduced, and the mystery of what exactly Norman is dealing with draws you in further, and just when you’re starting to get a bit impatient with where things are going, that’s when the stakes get raised and the characters are put in real danger. This film is a great example of how building a story step by step always proves to be more effective at getting a reaction out of the audience than just cramming as many big moments into a script as you can.
The world the characters inhabit and the words that they’re saying are the meat and potatoes of the ParaNorman experience, but the voice actors that bring those characters to life shouldn’t be discounted either. They’re the ones bringing the sizzle. Norman himself is being voiced by a young Australian actor named Kodi Smit-McPhee, and due to his age he’s able to bring a youth and an authenticity to the character that really resonates. Thanks to Smit-McPhee’s performance, Norman feels like a kid that you’ve known, or maybe were. A young guy by the name of Tucker Albrizzi does the same in the role of Norman’s only friend, Neal, as well. This kid’s only been working for three years, but already he has a hefty resume, and the experience shows.
Perhaps stealing the show are Anna Kendrick and Casey Affleck as the boys’ dimwitted older siblings. Norman’s sister is named Courtney, and she’s the sort of self-obsessed social miscreant that gives teenage girls a bad name. Though Kendrick seems to be a perfectly bright girl in real life, she’s able to pull vapid off with ease, and she effectively adds adept-at-comedy to her fast growing list of skills. Similarly, the diminutive Affleck is terribly entertaining as the beefed up meathead Mitch. And, though his role isn’t the biggest, the always dependable John Goodman gives an absolutely delightful performance as Norman’s uncle, the creepy guy who he inherited his ghost whispering talents from. Goodman uses the animated medium as an excuse to break free of his usual cadence and really get silly with his voice work, and he somehow manages to pull off a pretty broad performance. That’s the sign of a real talent. Leslie Mann and Jeff Garlin are in there as Norman’s parents, and their performances, well... they’re very parenty. Probably those were the two most thankless roles here.
As you can probably tell, there are a lot of things to love about ParaNorman. And maybe at the top of its list of positives is the message that it sends. This is the sort of movie that makes fun of being dumb, the sort of movie that glorifies thinking for yourself and questioning the herd mentality. It’s the sort of thing that might inspire kids to get into horror movies, get creative, and start expressing themselves in artistic ways. And, on top of that, it’s also a really loving tribute to the entire horror genre (right down to the awesome, Giorgio Moroder-sounding theme that accompanies zombie attacks in the score). Somehow, while still staying kid friendly, ParaNorman is able to also squeeze in quite a few legitimate thrills. This movie is full of ghosts, witches, zombies, and spooky settings, and it’s the sort of thing that you’re going to want to re-watch around Halloween every year. Just make sure that when you do, you pull the kids into the room with you. There are a lot of lessons in here that young folks should learn, and if those lessons can go down smoother by being accompanied by a bunch of gross horror movie stuff, then where’s the harm in that? Kids love gross shit.
