PARANORMAN

Photos courtesy of Focus Features

A teenager speaks to the dead in the Focus Features animated film, PARANORMAN.  

Norman isn’t your average teenager.  Oh, he loves horror movies, isn’t understood by his parents and fights with his old sister, but he also communes with the dead, whether it's his deceased grandmother or other townsfolk.  

His unique gift is viewed as an abnormality by his family, but even more so by his classmates, who ridicule Norman.  No one believes that Norman can communicate with the dead, and it isn’t until Norman is visited by his estranged uncle, that he realizes the purpose of his gift.

                                                              

Bullying is as prevalent today as it was some 25 years ago when I was Norman’s age. Yet unlike yesteryear, bullying is taken more seriously today, and the attempts to combat it are more evident and effective.

PARANORMAN is very humorous and even creepy at times, but the central focus is on the ill effects of bullying and equally important, an examination of how to rebuild oneself after the damage has been done.  This message for adolescents is wrapped around a standard, but entertaining tale, and a collection of odd, but funny characters who fit many junior high and high school stereotypes.  

Although the characters fit a familiar formula, PARANORMAN still provides an eclectic mix of personalities.  The voice work is well done, with familiar, but tough to recognize voices.  

The look of the film is terrific.  Utilizing stop-motion animation, PARANORMAN has its cake and eats it too.  The freedom of animation is utilized for both comedy and thrills, but the realistic nature of the characters moments and mannerisms also gives this teen tale a sense of realism.  

PARANORMAN is a rare, and oddly moving film for teens.

Grade: B