First Take: Paranorman- stop motion and horror are a surprisingly good mix

As we are still on the long summer break, here’s a classic review from the archives.

SYNOPSIS: A misunderstood boy takes on ghosts, zombies and grown-ups to save his town from a centuries-old curse.

Laika are a studio that have only put one big film out at this point- and that is 2008′s Coraline, a film which got underlooked before gaining a huge cult following. Last year they returned with this film, and if you’re wondering why this review has come out now… it’s a long story. But it’s pretty enjoyable.

It’s directed by Sam Fell and Chris Butler, who do a pretty nice job at turning in a 1 hour 32 minute product that is paced pretty decently, but suffers from some predictability issues courtesy of the script, which Butler has written to capitalise on the aesthetic of 1970s horrors- something which the opening of the film parodies really well. As has been the case with Laika’s work on Coraline, the animation is brilliant, taking the Aardman style of stop motion and evolving it further to create a very smooth style of cinematography, which Tristan Oliver absolutely nails. Jon Brion provides the score, and it just about does the job for the sort of film we have here.

With the cast, Kodi Smit-McPhee (good choice of casting there) leads a pretty decent group of talents, which includes Anna Kendrick, Casey Affleck, Jeff Garlin, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Leslie Mann and John Goodman- and while this is technically an indie release (Universal merely have the distribution rights), it’s a good amount of starpower. The only real issue I had are some particular sequences which may overwhelm younger viewers, so the usual advice applies: read the BBFC advice before taking your kids to this one.

THE VERDICT

For what it’s worth, Paranorman is a rather fun family film that blends the styles of animation and horror together in a way that introduces younger audiences to the themes of meatier PG and 12 certificate films. One recommendation though, this isn’t a good film for a date. Especially if said date doesn’t like the unique style of stop motion animation.

RATING: 3/5