Voices of Kodi Smit-McPhee, Anna Kendrick, Casey Affleck, John Goodman, Leslie Mann, Jeff Garland

(7-Very Good Film)

Impressive. Fun. Anticlimactic.

Norman Babcock (Smit-McPhee) is an odd little boy. He can see and talk with ghosts, and since no one in his small town of Blithe Hollow believes him, Norman is looked at as a bit of a freak. A reckoning from beyond the grave is coming, however, and Norman is the only one with the power to stop it, with some help from his friends. The combination of stop-motion and computer animation is stunning. It’s a beautiful film and there’s a lot of humor and great detail in the animation. The story, on the other hand, leaves much to be desired. The finale is a bit of a let down; not delivering on scares or thrills. Paranorman was set up to be something of an homage to the Goonies but eschews adventure about midway through, and instead becomes more about hijinks and physical humor.

-Walter Tyrone Howard-

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