Watch ParaNorman Free

Norman sees dead people. He also chats with them, much to the consternation of his family and the ridicule of his peers. The only person who believes in his ability is his mad uncle, who entrusts him with a mission to protect their hometown from a three hundred year old witch’s curse that sees the dead rising from their graves.

 

 

The most striking thing about the film is its fantastic production design. The grotesque characters (vaguely reminiscent of the weird potato people from the Supermen Lovers’ video to Starlight) are a far cry from the pristine creations of Aardman, Dreamworks or Pixar. The sets and props have a skewed, Watch Paranorman Free impressionistic quality to them; the family car is a particularly brilliant construction. The model work has been complemented by some extraordinary CGI, particularly in the surreally realised climactic encounter with the witch. It’s a pet peeve of mine when reviews complement CGI effects in live action films. To my mind, they can be as ‘realistic’ as you like, but you always know that there isn’t actually a real robot/monster/charming Gungan there. I always find physical effects more impressive in live action films more convincing and impressive. For example, the spaceships in the old Star Wars films look much more realistic than in the new ones. In animation, I feel special effects are much more straightforwardly Watch Paranorman Free impressive. What you’re watching isn’t supposed to look realistic anyway, so the animator’s imaginations can truly run riot and create something really special to look at. As is the case with ParaNorman.

I’d also like to praise the film’s intelligence and wit. For a film aimed fairly squarely at a younger audience, it isn’t afraid to play with horror tropes and invert them, presupposing a level of familiarity with the genre it pays tribute to. It’s also fairly scary for a family film, so caution is advised for those with very young children. The film’s moral stand point and general execution also has a pleasingly liberal sensibility (best exemplified by a conservative baiting – and hilarious – final line for one of the characters) which I liked.

It’s traditional at this point of a review of an animated film to note how good voice cast is and I’ll make no exception for ParaNorman. Kodi Smit-McPhee (of The Road and Let Me In) voices Norman and Anna Kendrick, John Goodman, Jeff Garlin, Leslie Mann, Casey Affleck and Christopher Mintz-Plasse all throw themselves into their roles with gusto.

ParaNorman is a clever, funny and often touching film that should be essential viewing for any family looking for an introduction to the great genre of horror for their younger members. Older viewers will appreciate the deference and references ParaNorman pays to its genre. It plays its hand well; the nods to the classics are sparing and tasteful. Apparently, the original idea was offered to Disney in the eighties. Credit is due to directors Sam Fell (The Tale of Despereaux, Flushed Away) and Chris Butler (who also wrote it) for bringing this inventive and joyous project back from the grave.

ParaNorman is released in UK cinemas on September 14th courtesy of Universal Pictures.