“Paranorman” is the latest work from animation house Studio Laika, the follow up to 2009’s stop motion hit, “Coraline”. It is the story of Norman, a outcast boy who can see ghosts and speak with the dead, and must use his powers to save his town from a witches curse. Despite the departure of legendary director Henry Selick, who’s previous directorial works include the aforementioned “Coraline” and the classic “Nightmare Before Christmas”, quality has not dropped in transition from Laika’s previous work. This film not only meets the standards set by “Coraline”, but may in fact set standards all its own for the studio and all stop motion animation.
Despite having no involvement from Selick, in contains all the elements that would be found in any given film of his(except for the disaster that was 2004’s “Monkeybone”), including gothic visuals and the greatest stop motion animation in the film industry. Particularly impressive are the sets, from a shockingly realistic small town to a dark forest that would be perfect in any good horror film. On the audio side of the technical spectrum, the voice acting is superb. None of the actors are true voice actors, but manage to do a good job nonetheless, the main standout being John Goodman, playing a disgusting, and dirty madman character quite different from anything he’s ever played. No one else quite stands out, but everyone does such a good job, emoting so well and getting into the roles that their playing, that nobody else really has to. The film’s music score outright refuses to distract the viewer from the film, making it a perfect fit for a film more rightfully concerned with its visuals and story.
This film may have the strongest writing of any stop motion of any recent film. However, most of this title shines in the final 2 acts of the film. The first act, though containing some clever jokes and decent character building, falls flat in this critic’s opinion. It’s ridden with high school clichés, and the worst of them at that. Norman is an outcast due to his talent, and is bullied endlessly due to it. Because of how exhausted this entire situation is, some of the scenes become practically unbearable. Not to say that the first act is completely awful however. The previous mentions of humor and character development still stand, and the scene where Norman walks to school is one of the most hauntingly heartwarming sequences I’ve seen in film.
The film picks up and sprints to the end when the witch’s curse begins to consume the town. Norman has to save the town, and the film begins takes original angles on the idea of a zombie apocalypse, the witch hunts of 17th century, and the horror genre as a whole. The final 2 acts of the film supplies thrills and laughs beyond what anyone could have expected walking into the theater. The films edges on philosophical, by parodying humanity’s obsession with zombie invasions, and comparing the bullies of today with the era of witch hunts. The final act is constantly being an epic thrill ride, filled with great wit and heartwarming, thoughtful fare. All of this more than makes waiting through the imperfect first act worth it.
It is unfortunate to say, but the characters of the film aren’t as interesting as the tale they’re being used to tell. They are certainly entertaining, but aren’t entirely interesting. The best character is most definitely Norman, who experiences the most character development, is probably the most entertaining to watch. He’s the most human, most well thought out, and is the most flawed, and the writers definitely cared the most about him. Contributing to his position on top is his family, who also have strong development. Being that his family is as foolish as the rest of the town about his talent, and must develop their way to accepting their son. The worst character is by far the bully character Alvin. There is nothing to him besides him being stupid and a scumbag. He doesn’t change at all in a practical level, and becomes “friends “with Norman through the power of contrived writing. The rest of the supporting cast is equally as one note, mostly forgettable despite supplying hearty laughs. This does not detract from the quality on Norman and his family’s characterization however and only slightly detracts from the film itself.
In conclusion, “Paranorman” is a worthy follow-up to “Coraline”. Excellently animated, overflowing with humor, and complex in its writing and dark atmosphere, it stands tall among the low standards of the end of summer film line up. Though it suffers from a weak first act and loads of one note characters, the good more than outweighs the bad. This film is highly recommended.
Final Rank: A-
+strong script, great animations, interesting protagonist, hilarious at its comedic points
-Weak first act, too many one note characters
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