BEFORE: This was a little unexpected, I had to work a promotional event for the animation company that made this one, and my boss took me to the movies before-hand, in case any questions about the film came up during the event. Part of my daily gig involves taking advertising people out to the movies or to parties, in the hopes of landing the company more commercial work. Mostly I work the door and make sure only the people on the list get in. So, full disclosure: I've done a lot of work for Laika, the animation company behind this one, so the fix is in tonight.
This meant I saw two movies on Tuesday, so I'm going to give myself Wednesday off. This also means I've got to bump one of the films left on the 2012 schedule into next year, so as not to affect the round-the-world trip. I've built some flexibility into the line-up, so there's still a chance of adding or taking away from the list before the journey starts. And I've got to scramble to find an acting link - how about Annette Bening from "Running with Scissors" also appearing in "What Planet Are You From?" with John Goodman (last heard in "The Princess and the Frog")?
THE PLOT: A misunderstood boy who can speak with the dead, takes on ghosts, zombies and grown-ups to save his town from a centuries-old curse.
AFTER: It looks like Halloween came early this year - I guess some distributor didn't want to compete with the upcoming films "Hotel Transylvania" and "Frankenweenie". Still, this isn't very far off from this week's theme - which was supposed to be back-to-school, but instead ended up being teen boys who have trouble fitting in. Norman, the main character here, fits right into that pocket, and the other high-school stereotypes (the fat kid, the bully, the jock) all follow suit as well.
But there's also a play on "The Sixth Sense" here as well, since Norman can see the spirits who haven't moved on to their eternal rest, because of unfinished business, or perhaps the gruesome way that they died. Death is just a transition here, and also is a source of some comedy, but younger kids may not see the humor in dead people rising from their graves. You can get away with a lot in animation, though, with limbs falling off and being re-attached - when the zombies are made of clay, they're less scary than the ones in other horror films, where "realism" is the goal (even though zombies aren't real, right? RIGHT?)
There are also some real subversive bits here, too, way outside the mainstream rules of the horror genre. Since Norman can talk to the dead, he's in a unique position to figure out what's going on, and how to stop it. I can't name any horror film where someone decided to just reason with the scary zombies that were lumbering after them. I can't also remember any time where the human mob with torches and pitchforks was proven to be more dangerous than the monsters they were pursuing. That's a nod to the "Frankenstein" films, I'll wager.
Comparisons are probably going to be made to "Coraline", the studio's previous film, which had the good sense to be based on a book by Neil Gaiman. This one's more action-oriented - it would be a bit too simple to say that "Coraline" was for girls and this one's for boys, but I can see more boys digging the zombies and ghosts and the chase sequences, where "Coraline" was more about secret rooms and dancing mice, sort of more girlie stuff. Stereotypes are real time-savers, you know.
I don't go to the cinema that much, as you know. And I certainly don't see a lot of movies in 3-D, either. But stop-motion animation seems to be tailor-made for the process - the characters are already moving through three dimensions, so why not present them that way? The floating ghosts and grabbing zombie hands looked great in 3-D, but so did static shots like the town square - to the point where I tended to forget I was watching a 3-D movie, because it all just came so natural.
Maybe there was a little too much focus on the rules of the engagement with the dark forces, and maybe some of the dialogue got a bit repetitive in places, but overall this was a lot of fun. Not too scary, which is how I like my horror films, and not too touchy-feely in its attempt to battle evil.
Also starring the voices of Kodi Smit-McPhee (last seen in "The Road"), Anna Kendrick (last seen in "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World"), Casey Affleck (last seen in "Chasing Amy"), Christopher Mintz-Plasse (last heard in "Marmaduke"), Jeff Garlin (last heard in "Cars 2"), Leslie Mann (last seen in "Knocked Up"), Elaine Stritch (last seen in "Autumn in New York"), Tucker Albrizzi, Bernard Hill (I guess Bill Nighy wasn't available), Tempestt Bledsoe (I guess Wanda Sykes wasn't available either) and Alex Borstein.
RATING: 8 out of 10 spooky trees
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