Review of ParaNorman (2012) by Jacob M — 03 Sep 2016

Zombies. Ghosts. An evil witch. Many a movie has taken these things and just left it there and never delved deeper, but "ParaNorman" does not take anything at face value. "ParaNorman" is a movie which humanizes the strange and the bizarre and shows that, so often, the real monsters are those who are "normal".

While some of the characters can be annoying and there are some cringe-worthy lines or moments, "ParaNorman" is a movie that directors of all genres need to watch. What is really so wonderful about "ParaNorman" is that all of the strange, bizarre characters like the zombies or the witch are delved into and shown to have so much depth and motivation.

The zombies are revealed to be *spoilers* the town's late Puritan inhabitants who are trapped in limbo after committing a terrible act, the killing of a little girl who they believed to be a witch.

The witch turns out to just be a girl who had experienced such pain and sadness that it made her angry and bitter, who turned into a monster only because she was made into one by those who feared her.

"ParaNorman" is also a movie which says that violence is so often just a reaction to things that are different than us and only succeeds in creating more monsters for people to hate. In the end, it is talking and understanding what and who we fear that truly brings about resolution and healing.

"ParaNorman" has it's faults, but it is such a powerful movie in the way it shows that those we fear are so often more afraid of us and that, when we judge and treat others badly because they're different from us, we are the monsters.

"ParaNorman" also has so much style and has a great moment at the end where we discover that the big, macho jock actually has a boyfriend, which, by the end of the movie, is just the cherry on top.

"ParaNorman" is what more movies, not just kids' movies, should aspire to be.