Today I review Laika’s new film, ParaNorman – the stop-motion puppettoon for family audiences that comes in both 3D and eye comforting Flat-O-Vision.
Here’s what I thought:
Way cool 80’s homage
Amazing asymmetrical artstyle
Unflinchingly dark and mature with it’s story
SEXYLADYOMETER RATING
7
Though you’d never be able to tell from the marketing, the theme of ParaNorman is Bullying. It bungles it’s moral in the end though, and left me feeling like the film’s message is that the victims of bullying (or worse) are left purposefully impotent and powerless to their ultimate fate of being victims forever – but that’s cool because it gives them some sort of nebulous moral high ground.
A sad moral for a film overwrought with sad moments – which is a shame. If the story had been as meticulously manicured as the artwork, this could have been the new Goonies/Ghostbusters/ET/Gremlins.
As always – if you like the music, please visit the links where you can download their music for free and comment on their work!
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time ‘Subterranean Kamikaze’
Ghouls’n Ghosts ‘PsychoUnderpants’
