Paranorman Movie Review

Release Date: Aug. 17, 2012
Summary:
A town relies on a young boy, who is misunderstood by peers and adults, to rescue them from a colonial curse.  Norman has the super natural power of communicating with ghosts, including his Grandma which makes him a little "odd" to not only his peers but even his dad has a hard time understanding him.  When his uncle mysteriously dies, the job of saving the town from the witches' curse is turned over to Norman 

Mom's opinion:
I was a little hesitant deciding whether to allow my daughters to see the movie after watching the trailer and recent news articles on zombies eating faces. The trailer showed some scary images, but we went and over all is was entertaining.  There were five particular parts that did concern me because of the rude humor and language.  I'm sure these influenced the PG rating. Luckily, I do believe it was over the heads of my daughters that they didn't comment or ask questions in regards to the scenes, but I was quite shocked by the amount of adult humor and suggestive sexual references. 
First, there is a scene where Norman walks into the kitchen and his parents ask what he is watching on TV and he mumbles, "sex and violence."  Although it wasn't what he was watching, his mother replies, "oh that's nice."
Second, Norman and his friend Neil were walking through the town when someone behind the a statue made a "pssst" noise towards the boys. Neil exclaims, "that statue just pissed at us.
Third, Norman is highly misunderstood by his family, particularly his father, so after an "incident" at school, Norman and his father get into an argument and dad tells Norman there is no more talking to ghosts, including Grandma.  When the father jumps out of the car and slams the door the mother tries to explain to Norman that, "sometimes people say things because their afraid."  Norman responds, "but he's my dad he shouldn't be afraid of me." Mom says, "not afraid of you but for you."  The parenting scenes left a lot for discussion on the ride home of how the father communicates with his son. 
Forth, Norman tells Grandma that Dad said he is no longer allowed to talk to her.  Grandma called dad a "jackass" for telling Norman to stop talking to her.
Fifth, there were multiple scenes where one of Norman's peers is trying to feel his sister's butt or his friend froze his mother's workout video to see the instructor's butt. 

Daughters opinion: 5 and 6 years old- I liked it because it was funny.  Even the "scary stuff" like zombies, ghosts and graveyards wasn't scary.   

Overall- it was a good movie, but I caution you to consider the age of your child when considering this movie.  I suggest more of a tween compared to 5-6 years old. 

Have you seen it?  What did you think?