If you watch the trailer (shown at the bottom of the review) for ParaNorman, it probably seems pretty dumb. That was my original thought. It seems stupid. Plus, I don't like stop motion (filming little clay figures one frame at a time) all that much. But, as I say over and over again, sometimes the movie is worse than the trailer, and sometimes the trailer is worse than the movie.
The Plot.
Norman sees dead people. And because of this, everyone thinks he's weird. And no one believes him. So he's an outcast. Bullied. Ignored.
Then one day, his strange (which is an understatement) uncle, whom his parents disowned, tells him he needs to do something to save the town, and possibly the world, from some ancient Witch's curse.
From there, its an adventurous journey, filled with zombies, witches, chase scenes, half dogs, awesome ghosts, comedy, and all kinds of other cool stuff.
The Review.
Surprisingly, I liked this movie. The creators used an interesting combination of stop motion and CGI (computer generated graphics) that made it less annoying.
The plot was actually interesting, and a lot less stupid than the trailer makes it look. Sure, as with any zombie and/or kids movie, you have to suspend your sense of belief a little (or a lot), but it's not annoying dumb.
The movie isn't as funny as many kids movies are, but there are some awesome one liners ("I just new this would happen!" "Really? Because the zombie bit threw me." When the movie's over, it doesn't feel like you watched a comedy, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Pretty much all the characters besides Norman are annoying, stock characters with seemingly one trait and strange faces. However, Norman's on friend, who is fat and awesome looking, is rather awesome. He has surprisingly few lines for the main characters best friend, but his face does the talking. I would say he's a great actor, but he's made of clay, so...
The Bottomline.
The movie is surprisingly good. It's no Up, or WALL-E, or Toy Story, but it is pretty good. Kids will enjoy it if they aren't incredibly frail and easily scared, and adults will enjoy an interesting plot and a couple good jokes throughout.
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