Paranorman has been a hard review to write (over two weeks) because this movie is just so mediocre. Great or terrible movies practically write themselves! I need to see The Corpse Bride and Coraline, find out if these other Burton-inspired stop-motion films have diminishing returns since Paranorman was something to keep a kid occupied during a long car trip. It is safe for children to see, the zombies don’t eat anybody, they mostly bear the brunt of the physical comedy.
Norman is a kid who digs zombie movies and has the ability to see dead spirits, like the kid from The Sixth Sense. Not everybody haunts his small Salem, New England-esque town, just those with unfinished business. It’s also a talent that runs in his family; Norman has an eccentric uncle his father keeps away for fear of Norman being made into a bigger town weirdo.
As Halloween approaches, the uncle grows more anxious to find the protagonist. Their mutual talent requires one of them to carry out an annual duty to protect the town. If it isn’t completed by sundown, a horrible witch’s curse gets unleashed; remember it’s set in New England where the infamous Salem witch trials took place 350-plus years ago.
Obviously Norman fails, otherwise this would be a short movie. What follows is a string of slapstick, chases and after-school special lessons about forgiveness, appearances and acceptance. Only near the end does Paranorman get slightly more interesting but from a technical aspect; the crew combined stop-motion techniques with computer-generated effects to create a departure from previous Laika productions.
Fans of Laika, Burton and the overdone zombie genre will probably like Paranorman. I was mildly amused, leaning toward bored. The Nightmare Before Christmas was fresh and exciting…19 years ago. James and the Giant Peach kept the technique interesting by shifting genres. I guess James failed due to several more horror-like titles being made after a long absence for major stop-motion features. Paranorman is predictable and not in a good way. It isn’t awful, it was rather lazy. Featuring Christopher Mintz-Plasse as the voice of Norman’s bully tormentor demonstrates my “lazy” gripe. Mintz-Plasse is the has-been “comedic” actor from Superbad tied to the over-repeated McLovin’ schtick yet he may put butts in seat over the opening weekend. Never mind trying to punch up the story and/or its execution.
I will close with one good element I did enjoy. Sit through the closing credits and Laika gives a nice presentation on how they build a figure from its raw materials.
Alamo did a good job warming up the crowd with kid-friendly features. They were horror based but nothing nightmare-inducing for any over six.