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Saturday, August 25, 2012

ParaNorman

So to tie a nice bow on this Summer, I saw ParaNorman. I was pretty worried how this movie would turn out seeing how there is surprisingly no involvement from Henry Selick or even produced by Tim Burton, something that Nightmare Before Christmas and Coraline had that make them really great (kind of makes you wonder why Burton chose Abe Lincoln:Vampire Hunter instead). The first trailers honestly didn't make it look all that amazing, but looking at it more and more got me excited for it. It is also surprising we are getting two stop motion films that are basically going to compete each other. Frankenweenie looks like it won't be the best, but still looks promising. At least we for sure know it'll be a better homage to classic horror movies than Hotel Transylvania. 
 Anyway, this movie was probably one of the best this year. Everything about it worked and made for a great FAMILY movie, not a kids movie, though granted it is for older kids. Lettuce order what made it work:
Animation: Stop motion is no doubt extremely difficult. I think this film has put a great standard to how it should be done now. With some stop motion films, the movement seems choppy or the characters don't do much. Here, everything flows nicely and the characters are not just talking heads, they managed to talk with the rest of their body. I also liked how the skin tone on the characters actually looked real. It is a funny thing to mention, but it made them look more human rather than the dolls they actually are. The character design as a whole for everyone in this film was hysterical. I loved how their look reflected their personalities and at the same time created that cartoon feel with all the vibrant colors. 
Voice Acting: I think the one flaw with Coraline was that some of the voice acting did come off as whiny and annoying for some characters (Dakota Fanning really shouldn't do it anymore). With ParaNorman, all the actors seemed natural with their characters. When the focus of the film goes to preteens and teenagers, sometimes they are too over the top and become obnoxious. Here they were able to make it fit and it also didn't sound like 20 year olds playing 11.
Being an appropriate modern family film: It seems like nearly all family movies these days have been uncreative and plagued with bad jokes, terrible plots and degrading good actors. Every once in a while there is a special one that comes out such as Brave or as we hope will soon be Wreck-It Ralph.
Now when I say this movie is for older kids, I really mean it. For some little ones it may be too scary but I doubt it. My 3 year old nephew saw this with his parents and he loved it. There were only a few minor words that made might make people go "OH GOD WHY DID THEY SAY THAT IN A KIDS MOVIE BEH BEH BEH!" but who cares. There's been plenty of PG rated family movies that used those kinds of words. The point is that they didn't talk down to the audience. The jokes in this turned out to be hilarious and very clever throughout. It also told a very macabre story by the climax and of course, death was all over.  I believe that this really shouldn't be an issue so long as parents are making sure their children are aware that this is all fantasy. In a way this was like a Shaun of the Dead for kids, as it was a very funny zombie movie.
Overall this was a very good movie that paid respectful homage to some cult classic zombie movies. The music to this film was a nice nod to that was well. Nothing was complicated and it was something that grabbed your attention and didn't let go. There was nothing stupid about it, and I'm glad they were able to make a movie like this that has these types of young characters and not make it unbearable. There was a moment I was afraid it would become a sentimental mess but it really didn't, everything had a nice payoff to it. How does it compare to Coraline? It is actually better, but they are both still very good. When I think about it, the climaxes to both Coraline and ParaNorman are almost the same pace wise and mood. Still a very good movie and I wish it would get a lot more attention than other family movies like Ice Age 4 or Madagascar 3.
What makes me mad about this is the average audience that is going to see this movie. I know there are people out there that can really appreciate this movie and the style of the other movies as made by the same people. Then comes the people that "just don't get it." These are the kind of people that react to movies by saying "That movie was really creepy and scary and weird...." after seeing Coraline or got mad at Rango for having gun violence and "bad" words. Trust me I've seen these people. I don't think this movie did well in the box office not only for the little advertising it has had, but the assumption that people have that its going to be "weird and creepy and just for kids." Well no, this is a movie anyone can enjoy. Even without the company of children. I really wish there were more movies like this but there's so many things that draw them back, such as the prejudice against anything that's not CGI or doesn't have a big name actor. It even made me mad just being in the theater. A lot of parents there were just talking to each other and even had some on their phones. I pretty much don't want to go to the movies midday anymore because I've been getting annoyed with the families that go during that time as awful as that sounds.
To conclude, I want people to think outside their idiot bubbles. I really hope there's no one out there saying "DON'T SEE THIS MOVIE ITS GOT BAD STUFF IN IT AND I'M NARROW MINDED SO YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO ME!" ParaNorman is truly a gem this year and I highly recommend it.

If there's a movie to avoid and be mad about, it is Hotel Transylvania. Adam Sandler as Dracula? Thanks for slapping Bela Lugosi and Bram Stoker across the face, dumbasses.






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