ParaNorman

Director: Chris Butler and Sam Fell
Year Released: 2012
Rating: 2.0

An outcast has this supernatural ability to see the dead, which leads to psychotic outbursts (which, in all actuality, would have him end up in a psychiatric facility ... but this is a kids' movie) and mockery from his peers, but comes in handy when he's assigned the task of stopping a witch's curse (actually, a rightfully pissed off little dead girl) from ruining his town. While it's a nice effort at trying to step into Tim Burton territory (Butler worked on Corpse Bride) and has Burton's flair for the macabre and twisted, it is unfortunately weak on creating memorable characters and a little too familiar in plot construction, cribbing bits of The Sixth Sense, zombie movies and even Coraline. The underlying message of being tolerant towards those different than you is important (even the hulking Mitch character turns out to be gay) if familiar.