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ParaNorman

Country: USA, Language: English, 92 mins

  • Director: Chris Butler; Sam Fell
  • Writer: Chris Butler
  • Producer: Matthew Fried; Travis Knight

CGiii Comment

Here's a film that falls through all the cracks.

Obviously, the filmmakers were more than a little confused - who was the intended audience?!? Definitely not for the Christian right-wing and their sprogs...you can hear them screaming OUTRAGE as they leave the theatre...and, they may have a point!!!

With a trampy Grandmother, a trampy sister, a masturbatory fat kid, a masturbatory bully, a gay football jock...and, a child-murdering town council...not the staple cast for a kid's film...
Parents are justified in being upset...it most definitely is: age inappropriate.

As for it being a film for adults??? Well, it doesn't do particularly well either...the lame script delivers jokes that are few and far between, the sight gags are all obvious...the overall story is achingly pedestrian...with a glimmer of a good idea: the zombies are actually terrified of the living...roll with that one - it could have been hysterical.

The stop-motion animation is clever (in places) and ugly (in all places)...a classic case of animators relying more on the imagery than on the story...and, the result is...

...bitterly disappointing.


Trailer...

 

The(ir) Blurb...

In the town of Blithe Hollow, Norman Babcock is a boy who can speak to the dead, but no one besides his eccentric new friend, Neil, believes his ability is real. One day, Norman's estranged eccentric uncle tells him of an important annual ritual he must take up to protect the town from a curse cast by a witch it condemned centuries ago. Eventually, Norman decides to cooperate, but things don't go according to plan. Now, a magic storm of the witch threatens Blithe Hollow as the accursed dead rise. Together with unexpected new companions, Norman struggles to save his town, only to discover the horrific truth of the curse. With that insight, Norman must resolve the crisis for good as only he can.

Cast & Characters

Kodi Smit-McPhee as Norman Babcock;
Tucker Albrizzi as Neil;
Anna Kendrick as Courtney Babcock;
Casey Affleck as Mitch;
Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Alvin;
Leslie Mann as Sandra Babcock;
Jeff Garlin as Perry Babcock;
Elaine Stritch as Grandma;
Bernard Hill as The Judge;
Jodelle Ferland as Aggie