Saw the movie today.
I have so many little things to say that I probably won't remember all of them:
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The movie's plot gets a B- for originality and some flaws but an A in how entertaining it is.
Norman isn't a kid who embraces his gift and instead it's very believable that he feels cursed, and I would imagine a lot of other kids would feel that way too under his circumstances. Better than a kid being arrogant about his gift or something. I don't even recall the ghosts he talks to even being onscreen when he's with other people (except for the dog part and the end). Hell it could explain why you don't hear the Judge talk too much until Norman's by himself in the Town Hall and why you never hear said Judge give directions when he's in the car with other people.
Speaking of the zombies though, one point against the movie (all the ones I have are small, thankfully) is how they act all zombie like when they need to be scary for the viewers and then they act all solemn and more human like when they actually want to get their damn message across. Lazy. 9_9
Still it leads to great scenes like the part with the vending machine, even though I never seen one take that long to drop some chips.
Also…you know the phrase 'twists and turns?' Well Paranorman had them but they were more sleight of hand (at least with me, watching movies is one of the few times I try not to care about analyzing too much and just enjoy myself). Two big examples were the townsfolk and the zombies.
Zombies: When I found out there were seven of them I knew they weren't going to be too much trouble and made fun of the movie internally for it. Even the movie knew it by having them feel shocked by the modern world and getting owned pretty quickly by the mob.
Then comes the important part: The witch turned them into zombies to punish them.
Judge: We killed that girl because we were scared.
Outside: Mob wants to kill them
Me: Oh shit I get it now! The witch wanted to punish ONLY them! 8O
The Townsfolk: In movie cliches 101, the crowd of doubting Thomas' have a change of heart when they need their hero the most.
Not so here. Even with the zombies and the giant witch cloud, they only fear Norman more instead of turning to him for help, to the point where they want to take him down with the zombies. @_@ It's only because of his sister getting in the way that they stop. The kicker: the excuses they make for their violent behavior near the end of the film (getting into the role, caught up in the crowd, etc.). These aren't just any cliche rubes, they're actually too stupid to learn anything!
Another thing I like is not only how shocking it was that the witch was just a little girl (just like him) but the design of her ghost self. When the Uncle passed on he seemed to lose his 'skin.' Abagail was all one color and looked unstable and Norman commented about how her hatred stripped her of her humanity each year. COINCIDENCE? (probably). I do find it very believable that the grudge she held hurt her a lot more than it hurt the people she was punishing. She really didn't even realize she was being a bully (an awesome callback to Neil's comment on how anyone with more power can be a bully).
I liked Neil's older brother for not being totally like the bully. The bully was stupid because it came with being mean (or something). The brother was stupid because he didn't really look like he needed a brain and deep down he still seemed pretty decent. When he revealed he was gay some of the patrons applauded. I don't know if the applause was for gay rights or against the sister though.
I love how the Uncle looked to Norman as Norman must've looked to regular people. Goes to show that having one thing in common isn't enough to really get along (or something.)
The scene with the uncle's corpse was so morbidly hilarious. I kept expecting his fingers to break off with so many shenanigans.
One thing about the climax: Norman's got balls. I do wish he didn't try (I think) to put the witch to sleep when he said he wouldn't (he might've been trying to calm her down though I guess).
I hate how they used the 'I bit my tongue' joke for the trailer when there were so many better ones (like 'THE TREE TOLD ME!')
When Norman was talking to ghosts the audience couldn't see in the beginning I only had to wait for a close up shot of his head (or something else to block the audience's view of the background) before the ghosts 'transitioned in.' It's neither good nor bad, I just knew it was coming....somehow.
Maybe I have been watching too many movies.
Overall: This film fuckin' rocked. I'm almost hoping for a sequel.
....Almost. (Norman gets witch powers too?)
....
You know what? Never mind. >>;[/hide]