not as good as all the hype

Just perfect...

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

I really enjoy animation and animated films (especially stop motion) because the artwork is out of this world, but in a lot of cases they fall short on the writing and original plot work. Unfortunately this is the case with ParaNorman.That being said, the environment, puppet work, and special effects are superb throughout this movie.Where the movie draws you in with quirks, family drama, and a misunderstood outcast protagonist, it strays too often into ludicrous comedy that breaks the tension. The main story, however, is fulfilling and makes this well worth the watch even though there are flaws, and clichés all the way through.

Most animated movies treat kids as though they are lazy, moronic vegetables who are too young to understand anything. That's why movies like Frozen, Madagascar and Despicable Me are filling cinemas (along with all the tacky merchandise from said movies filling stores). It's great to finally see an animated movie for kids that has some depth to it. The main character is Norman, a misfit boy who can see ghosts - but this movie isn't a horror film, it's written for kids and it's all played out in a lighthearted, comedic way. Poor Norman is the laughingstock of his school, but he does have a close friendship with Neil, an overweight boy who often has words like "fatty" spray-painted on his locker. Together they discover a curse on the town going back a few centuries, a curse that could bring zombies loose upon the town, and together they try to put a stop to it with the help of Norman's barbie-like older sister Courtney and Neil's jock older brother, Mitch.Everything about this movie is original and inspires kids to be themselves and not care what other people think of them. It carries a powerful anti-bullying message but still manages to be incredibly funny and is entertaining for all ages, adults included. It's nice to see a movie that isn't all just unicorns and dinosaurs and flowers and dragons either, kids can watch creepy things too without getting scared, and ParaNorman is creepy for kids but not enough to give them nightmares or terrify them to death. Hopefully ParaNorman will inspire other animation companies to follow in its footsteps and get out of the slump the film industry is in right now.

I really wanted to like this as I enjoy this type of animation.I feel like the trailers and marketing for this movie were very misleading. It wasn't at all what I was expecting. It didn't seem to be geared to either children or adults - it felt like it didn't know what sort of audience it wanted to target, and so it ended up missing the mark on all counts.It was very slow and tedious...there were some amusing bits here and there mixed with a whole lot of depressing :( Overall I couldn't wait for it to end.

After 163 reviews posted here there isn't much left to write about this movie --- other than it is great fun.I noticed in some other reviews here there is a question on it's "family appropriateness". I disagree with them considering whats on daily TV. And the joke at the end goes by so quickly I didn't even realize it until I read some reviews.Altogether 'Paranorman' is a funny and suspenseful flick with a great use of non-computer graphic technology for the characters and some really spooky and gross-out scenes the tween set will enjoy.And somewhere in the story is message for us all.