Paranorman

     This movie is a bit like Rio. Not in terms of plot or Characters, or even style... more along the lines of how unexpectedly good it is. It's funny, it's creepy, horrifying, disgusting, tearjerking... It makes fun of horror cliches and introduces some very interesting characters that it has a lot of fun with. However, it is flawed, and could have easily been a whole lot better...

     First off, the good: I absolutely love the witch character. Her story, how she looks when powered up, how she is defeated, the build up for her... Though she only has a few minutes of screen time, she is easily the most sympathetic character.
     Behind the witch is Norman, the boy who can see and talk to ghosts. Unlike a lot of movies about kids with special powers (it is pretty much it's own genre... Next to a pig becoming famous.) Norman is pretty careful about what he says, and tries to confine his ability to when he is alone, only acting upon it under extreme circumstances (such as when he receives a terrifying vision). He also sort of pushes everyone away since he assumes that they all think him to be a freak. He's right, but this is the sort of thing that one's parents would seek therapy for. But, then again, considering his father, it isn't surprising he doesn't get bi-daily therapy...

     While the characters besides Norman are funny and have their own nuances, there isn't much reason to care about them. Only Norman's friend has some sympathy from the audience, but the fact he barely does anything of plot relevance makes it so that he could be removed entirely with very little damage done. Same with the friend's old brother. And Norman's sister. Really, the movie only really needs Norman, the Witch, and a couple of the zombies.

     Actually, speaking of the zombies... There is a problem with them. You see, while normally zombies would be monsters that seek to destroy any living thing and consume it, these zombies still have their minds. They are the regretful judge and witnesses who sentenced the witch to her death. They are the only ones brought back to life. The rest of the dead bodies are left untouched, as it is only the seven brought back that were cursed. But, since they don't seek to harm anyone, what is the problem? Sure the witch is malicing them from the sky, but that's the extent of the damaged caused by the curse. It isn't a zombie apocalypse that is being averted, it's a couple of Puritans who fell asleep for a long time and would really like to move on.

     Related to the zombies... This movie is almost unwatchibly disgusting. And coming form the guy who likes the movie Corpse Bride and Nightmare before Christmas, that is saying  A LOT. Here's a tip: never have the character interact with a dead body. It is unbearable, regardless of the state of decay. In addition, don't have something squishy fall off. If you must have something fall off, let it be hard.
    It seems odd, but allow me to explain: a squishy eye or an ear will elicit a very disturbed reaction, as is the case when the zombies first appear. Now, compare this to The Corpse Bride; that movie is done entirely with puppets, so very little liquid, and nothing squishy... When the bride's eye pops out for a joke, it sounds like a marble hitting the floor.
     Now, I know it seems like a little thing, but understand this: suspension of disbelief is extremely important in animated movies. The reason for this is that the audience pretty much suspends all disbelief about an animated movie, and in their eyes, everything they see on the screen is real within that universe. If you don't want your audience to leave out of disgust, you have to go the extra step to break the suspension of disbelief surrounding the disgusting object, so that the audience ceases to believe the object is real. A hard eye ball is not realistic, and is less disturbing than a squishy ear, which is more realistic and therefore disturbing. Better yet, don't have anything fall off them in general...

     Honestly, the zombies aren't actually all that important either, and actually bring the story down a bit. The best parts of the story are the fantastical ones; the ones involving the witch, not the zombie "attack."

    What I'm thinking would have made a better movie is to basically take the formula for the Lorax and apply it here. I don't mean the thing about buying air or planting trees, I mean the part about a boy being told the story of another's life. Rather than Norman being an outcast who's seen as insane, have him be a "sender," someone who helps the dead pass on. It can still take place in modern day, but have the focus be on the witch and her story. The towns people can tell him the tale of how an evil witch cast a curse upon the town and it's residence (better than just 7 people), and continually hear different stories about her, culminating in actually finding the witch and hearing the tale from her... Or rather have Norman see it like he did in the film (it was very powerful there) and end it the same way, with Norman telling the story. Add in some other fantasy elements, like Norman being able to see all the dead, not just the sent ones (n the movie his ability to see ghosts is dropped rather quickly, and isn't brought up again for a long while. Being able to see all the dead would help fix that) and you have an extremely good movie that would work in any medium.


But, don't let me discourage you from seeing it, It is quite good, and I enjoyed it greatly. I don't plan on adding to my library since I don't really want to watch it again, but it is definitely worth seeing at least once.



This has been Fixer Sue; The Hobbit was too long, cut down to 2 hours, cutting down a lot of the longer scenes, and it would be golden.