Review

ParaNorman

Common Sense Media says

Cool-but-creepy monster flick is too scary for little kids.
Age
9
Quality
 

  • ParaNorman's themes include tolerance, understanding, unconditional friendship, bravery, and family support. Norman evolves from a lonely misfit who's bullied at school to a town hero by accepting not only his own selfless mission but acknowledging his need for help -- and helping others. Parents will also learn the importance of giving their children the benefit of the doubt and really listening to them instead of dismissing their ideas as just wacky or strange.
  • Norman doesn't have the best relationship with his parents, especially his father, who finds Norman's penchant for talking to the dead a sign of mental illness or adolescent angst. Neil and his brother, Mitch, are good friends to Norman; they get involved even when they don't have to and offer to help despite Norman's protests. Courtney starts off as a mean big sister but eventually cheers for and supports Norman on his mission. Norman himself is lonely and hesitant to ask for help at first but realizes he doesn't have to do everything by himself. Even the zombies are more sympathetic than they first appear to be.
  • The movie has an overwhelmingly scary, dark, moody, tone that's set by Norman's interest in monster movies (the movie opens with an animated monster-movie scene that includes a person in peril being chased) and continued by his ability to talk to ghosts (including his grandma, which could be upsetting for some kids) and encounters with frightful-looking zombies. Many frightening scenes will scare younger viewers used to more benign animated movies. Some of the ghosts that Norman can speak to are shown with fatal injuries and/or obvious reasons for their deaths. A character dies on screen. Many scenes feature either a corpse (Norman has to "wrestle" with one in one gross sequence) or falling-apart zombies. The kids think they're going to be ripped apart by the monsters, who chase them in a long sequence that includes tense moments and some startling "jump" scenes. The witch's ghost is very loud and destructive and nearly kills Norman and his family; it also causes a very ominous/scary cloud and sets off hostile sparks and blasts of electric energy. The townsfolk become a bloodthirsty mob ready to use their weapons (including guns) on the witch, zombies, or anyone who appears to be aligned with them. Norman's great-uncle seems creepy and strange (and his house is even more so); his parents argue; a car crashes and rolls.
  • Courtney aggressively flirts with Mitch, whom she first bumps into while he's shirtless and wearing only a towel. From that moment on, she makes comments about how "hot" he is and tries to get him to reciprocate her come-ons. She wears a midriff-baring exercise suit that she zips down to show off her cleavage; she's also very curvy (as are other female characters). A butt-grabbing is implied; Norman mentions watching "sex and violence" on TV early in the movie.
  • Insults like "freak," "stupid," "crazy," "loser," "ghost boy," "freakshow," "fatty," and more are used fairly frequently against Norman and his friend. Norman says "the F-word" (referring to a swear word, but not actually saying it). A (dead) grandmother calls her son "jackass." Courtney makes very authentic sounding "mean girl" comments like: "I really like her a lot, but she's a complete loser." Also "darn it," "damnation," "sucks," "boobs," "OMG," "Jesus" (as part of an exclamation), "weiner," and "hell."
  • Not applicable.
  • Norman's great-uncle takes unexplained pills.

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that ParaNorman is, above all else, a monster movie, and it will scare little kids. It's animated (stop-motion), but it's full of ghosts, corpses, zombies, and witches and is aimed toward older kids and teens. There are chases, "jump" scenes, characters in peril, frightful zombies with body parts flapping and falling off, creepy houses with looming shadows (and, in the 3-D version, a swarm of bugs bursting out of a teddy bear straight at you), an angry mob with weapons, and much more. The language (lots of insults directed at Norman) and teen hormones (overt flirting and discussion of how "hot" a couple of teen characters are, as well as flashes of cleavage and a broad shirtless chest) are also more mature than in most animated movies for the younger set. There are also hurtful conflicts between parents and kids, some bullying takes place, and a character is revealed to be gay in a low-key way. While it has themes about tolerance and teamwork and could be a great pick for brave older tweens and middle-schoolers, this cool frightfest is very likely to be too much for younger moviegoers to handle.


This review of ParaNorman was written by
Age
12
Based on 61 parent & educator reviews:
  • 56% say language is an issue
  • 56% say violence is an issue
  • 51% say sexual content is an issue
  • 41% say there are positive messages
  • 30% say there are positive role models

Most useful reviews by all members

Parent of 6 and 8 year old
August 17, 2012
 
Won't be purchasing this one, even though my 7 and 9 year old liked it.
Scariness was not my concern one bit in this movie, even though there were jumpy parts. I took our 9 and 7 year old and in the end I left the movie theater just shaking my head. Kids and grownups will enjoy the movie, but there were a lot of things that I felt were inappropriate for the younger crowd. Luckily, most went over their heads, but my mother and I were shocked. There was one part when a guy "ppsst" from behind a statue to call a kid over and the other kid said, "Hey, that guy just pissed (ppsst) at you!" A sister saying her brother sucks. Lots of bullying in the beginning. All the kids holding hands to make a stand and a boy putting his hand on the girl's butt instead (you don't see it, but you know by how she reacts and what she says). At the end, the boy that the sister has been pining over (blatantly looking him over, teenage flirting, etc) mentions his boyfriend. Now, I have NO PROBLEMS whatsoever with homosexuality and have mentioned it briefly with our kids. I just wish they could have left out jokes like that in a movie geared towards younger kids. I always talk with my kids about the movies we see and discuss anything that would be an issue. This movie just seems to have WAY too many things to have to talk about in a short period of time. My hand was on my forehead or mouth dropped open in shock a lot. I just never expected all the teenage/adult humor in it. For parents that are not wanting to expose their kids to things like this, stay away from this movie. On a positive note, the overall message of the story is good and the effects are really amazing. We saw it in 2D.

Parent
August 17, 2012
 
Surprising sexual themes
I was somewhat disturbed by three scenes, which were inappropriate for my 9 and 7 year old children. The first involved Norman casually remarking that he was watching "sex and violence" to which his mother responds "oh, that's nice.". The second involved one of the friends staring at a paused tape showing an aerobics instructor bent over with her butt in the camera. The final scene involved one of the kids grabbing the sister on the butt, which only provokes a mild rebuke. None of these messages seem appropriate, and I question what they subtly suggest to my daughter about her worth or her right to control how others treat her body.

Parent
August 17, 2012
 
Not Too Scary
Okay yes there are jump scenes, but what's great is the zombies, ghost's aren't scary looking, they come off comical. My 4 yr old laughed so much. He enjoyed this movie more than Brave. It all depends on your child of course. To me Coraline was more dark. This movie is a great movie, and my 4 yr old loved it , and wants to see it again. I don't agree with the above review that " frightful zombies with body parts flapping and falling off" They are very comical.

Teen, 17 years old
August 17, 2012
 
Depends if the kid can handle it
Iffy for 6 because it will probably scare younger

Kid, 12 years old
August 16, 2012
 
Not that Scary
It is going to be as scary as Coraline and the jump scenes level are going to be very high. Coraline focused on releasing psychological terror and yet it was a kids' movie. This is going to have more comedy than horror. But this will have more jump scares, so if you have kids that are sensitive to them (like me), I suggest you go to Blockbuster and rent Coraline. That is very scary too but apparently a lot of kids can handle it and enjoy it. *UPDATE* 8/18/12 I have now seen the movie and I will just say that it is not as scary as Coraline - AT ALL. Coraline will give me nightmares for 1 month if I watch it the 10th time or something, and this movie, the 1st time I watch it, I won't have nightmares about it for even a second. Sure, there are jumpy scenes, but still, it lacks that genuine and extreme terror that Coraline had. This one had so much more humor (Coraline was very serious) and this one doesn't actually relate to real life (much of the terror in Coraline was how it actually related to real life, the whole process of abducting children). That being said, this was a very good movie. It had emotion in it, which Coraline lacked, and the stop-motion animation was still fresh, clear, and showed a lot of effort. The humor level was from light laughs to bursting. The screenplay was pretty okay, I guess. Now on to the parental review. In the end, there are strong positive messages. It will probably have an impact on most people. Good role models are present. There is a moderate amount of violence present, with zombies attacking the town and stuff like that. There are about 2 jump scenes. Some children may be scared of some villains. There is also some disturbing/scary imagery. There is some suggestive humor, most of it is implied. There are some mild obscenities and a parent sitting next to me gasped at some obscenities. In one scene, you can clearly see a man that looks messed up that grabs a lot of pills and pops them in his mouth, but that is not a main point of the scene at all. Overall, I suggest you watch this. It should be less scary than Coraline for your kids and a great start for watching horror movies.

Parent
August 17, 2012
 
leave the little ones at home
I took my 9 & 10 year olds and they enjoyed this movie very much. I am really glad that I left my 5 year old at home. There were parts that made you jump, but was more concerned about the language, suggestive sexual content and some scary scenes towards the end. I would recommend for older kids only. Good message provided that being different is OK. Worth watching.

Teen, 17 years old
August 17, 2012
 
Scary
It will scare the pants off kids

Parent of 6 and 9 year old
August 18, 2012
 
Too Adult for children
I did not care for the sexual tone to this movie. I did not like the way one of the story line ended with one of the main characters revealing that he was gay. I believe that is something that parents and children should discuss..

Parent of 8 year old
August 18, 2012
 
Your Mileage May Vary
What's scary -- and what's too scary -- can be very individual. While I probably would have been utterly freaked out by a movie like this when I was a kid, my 9-year-old LOVED Paranorman, and I also appreciate it. Once you get past the creepy crawlies (of which there are plenty), Paranorman is a movie with its heart in the right place. Norman, a kid who sees and talks to ghosts, has to use his dubious gift to save the town from a threat no one else really believes in: a curse laid on the town during a colonial witch-hunt. Meanwhile, Norman is something of a witch-hunt victim himself. Branded a "freak," Norman is bullied at school and misunderstood at home. The nastiness of his peers is very believable; children who are dealing with bullies or feeling isolated at school may either find this comfortingly "relatable" or too close for comfort. At first Norman's isolation makes him angry at the world, but a sweet-natured fellow outcast, Neil, insists on befriending him and remains loyal through all the strange events of the movie. Neil's nonaggressive response to bullies and loyal friendship toward Norman establish a subtle but important moral grounding that runs through the whole movie: others may do evil, but doing evil in return doesn't help anything. I believe this is a powerful and much-neglected message that is worth a few gross-outs to encounter. Ultimately, despite the yucky severed arms, this isn't a movie about fighting zombies: as unlikely as it seems, Paranorman is a movie about understanding and forgiveness. I recommend it highly to strong-stomached adults, teens, and tweens.

Teen, 15 years old
August 17, 2012
 
Scary but not that scary
I think most kids could handle it

(PG, 2009)
Cool but creepy animated fantasy too scary for young kids.
(PG, 2006)

Tim Burton magic with just a touch of scariness.

(PG, 2005)
Magical, with scares most 10-year-olds can handle.
(PG, 2006)

Frightful fun for tweens and up.