ParaNorman
Focus Features | Release Date: August 17, 2012 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
72
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 33 Critic Reviews
Positive:
26
Mixed:
7
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Charlotte ObserverLawrence ToppmanAug 16, 2012
It's freakishly funny, suddenly tender, gleefully macabre, genuinely scary, and full of a moral – fear turns weak people into bullies – which is dosed out so gently that it never tastes like medicine. Read full review
100
The PlaylistDrew TaylorAug 5, 2012
ParaNorman is a micro-sized masterpiece that wears its heart (and its half-eaten brains) on its sleeve. Read full review
90
The New York TimesManohla DargisAug 16, 2012
Far more than Norman's adventure, which takes him from home to a cemetery and deep into his town's history, what pulls you in, quickening your pulse and widening your eyes, are the myriad visual enchantments - from the rich, nubby tactility of his clothes to the skull-and-bones adorning his bedroom wallpaper. Read full review
88
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsAug 17, 2012
It's not warm and fuzzy, but for kids who comprehended "Coraline" and babysitters who savored "The Corpse Bride," this stop-motion marvel from some of the same animators is like an early Halloween treat. Read full review
88
New York PostLou LumenickAug 17, 2012
ParaNorman is probably the year's most visually dazzling movie so far, and the stunning climax centering on an 11-year-old witch (Jodelle Ferland) is too good to spoil. Read full review
88
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick GroenAug 16, 2012
Norman is the "freak" bullied and ostracized and otherwise degraded by the alive-and-well crowd. Such is the outcast fate of most heroes in the best children's tales. And ParaNorman, a ghoulishly delightful exercise in stop-motion animation, is a very good children's tale indeed. Read full review
83
Portland OregonianShawn LevyAug 16, 2012
The overall cheekiness of the film far outweighs its preachy moments. For the most part, it's a brisk, funny and engaging movie that does genuinely exciting things with little bits of string and wire and such. Read full review
80
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottAug 17, 2012
In ParaNorman, Butler, Fell and company have crafted a refreshingly enjoyable bit of family entertainment. In the process, they've also made the best animated film to hit theaters so far this year. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyAug 16, 2012
It may be the most fun you'll have with ghosts and zombies all year. Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzAug 15, 2012
As creepy as it is fun, and it's plenty of both, ParaNorman will delight fans of old-time horror movies. Read full review
80
Time OutKeith UhlichAug 14, 2012
Sensitive parents shouldn't fret; this is the kind of grim fairy tale, equal parts midnight-movie macabre and family-round-the-hearth compassionate, that scars in all the right ways. Read full review
80
VarietyJustin ChangAug 4, 2012
Few movies so taken with death have felt so rudely alive as ParaNorman, the latest handcrafted marvel from the stop-motion artists at Laika ("Coraline"). Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovAug 15, 2012
Laika's stop-motion animation is every bit as inspired here as it was in their rightfully lauded "Coraline," and the storyline never wavers from its boneyard-deep message: Being different from others is a good – nay, great – thing, no matter how many villagers (or zombies) are after you. Read full review
75
Washington PostSean OConnellAug 16, 2012
A colorfully macabre stop-motion animation comedy that embraces the sociopolitical allegories of George A. Romero's zombie pictures and reworks them into a feature-length episode of "Scooby-Doo." Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleAmy BiancolliAug 16, 2012
As for Butler's screenplay, it's less beguiling than preachy. Read full review
75
USA TodayClaudia PuigAug 16, 2012
This wryly funny take on the classic ghost story, with its tributes to horror thrillers from "Halloween" to "Friday the 13th" and rich cast of characters, has distinctive Tim Burton-esque visuals, and a welcome dearth of potty humor. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter TraversAug 16, 2012
My advice? Just go with ParaNorman. There's magic in it. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsAug 16, 2012
What works about ParaNorman is its subtle interweave of the stoical and the heroic. The voice work is inspired, without a lot of theatrical flourish. The low-key musical score by Jon Brion, one of the year's best, teases out the macabre humor in each new challenge faced by Norman. Read full review
75
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallAug 15, 2012
The movie's erratic pleasures are like its ghosts; now you see them, now you don't. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumAug 8, 2012
The story may be thin, but the project, a feat of stop-motion animation, is made with generous care by the same impressive LAIKA studio artists who conjured up the gorgeous "Coraline." Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriAug 18, 2012
In the end, perhaps the most touching quality of this film is its low-key, but sensitively rendered portrait of a young, awkward child who hasn't quite managed to figure his way out in the world yet. Read full review
70
Village VoiceJonathan KieferAug 14, 2012
Butler called it "John Carpenter meets John Hughes," and that does just about sum ParaNorman up, though the actual math still feels a little fuzzy. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubTasha RobinsonAug 15, 2012
It plays with comedy and drama, but keeps failing to commit to one or the other. Read full review
67
IndieWireEric KohnAug 4, 2012
Unlike the polished universe of Pixar's "Brave" or countless other recent CGI efforts, ParaNorman maintains a delicate, handcrafted look that underscores its ideas. Read full review
63
Miami HeraldRene RodriguezAug 16, 2012
None of this is all that engaging. But the art design of the movie makes up for the slack story. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineChris CabinAug 12, 2012
The tagline for the film reads "You Don't Become a Hero by Being Normal," and the film mostly lives up to that assertion, but only up to a point. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawSep 16, 2012
It's a likable scary story – with hints of Tim Burton and Steven Spielberg. Read full review
60
EmpireKim NewmanSep 10, 2012
Ingenious and wonderfully detailed, though better in its imaginative horror than its slightly too-broad comic knockabout. It's not quite on the level of Coraline, but it's proper summer fun with some dark delights. Read full review
60
Total FilmJayne NelsonSep 1, 2012
Gorgeous animation and inspired set design help patch over a lacklustre script. The horror hardcore will enjoy playing spot the homage. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTy BurrAug 16, 2012
ParaNorman is supposedly for kids, but it's really aimed at their snarky older brothers, and it illustrates the limits of the new family creepshows. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterMichael RechtshaffenAug 4, 2012
ParaNorman is an amusing but only fitfully involving animated caper. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierAug 16, 2012
The 12-year-old boys who go to see ParaNorman - and who are the only ones who might enjoy it - should double up on the sugary treats to stay awake during this gorgeous-looking but zombi-fied stop-motion animated creep show. It's as slow as a corpse, and half as interesting. Read full review
40
Boxoffice MagazineSara Maria VizcarrondoAug 8, 2012
ParaNorman is easily one of the most charming, imaginative and quirky comedies to come out of Laika Entertainment (Coraline), but for all its cleverness and urbane wit, it's in no way appropriate for kids. Read full review
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