Let’s dispense with the usual format. Norm of the North isn’t worth the time it will take me to review it or the time it will take for you to read about it. What’s wrong with the film? What isn’t: a ridiculous story, bad dialogue, awful casting, terrible performances, uninspired designs, below average animation, a score I can literally not remember a single note from, too much bathroom humor, way too many scenes where characters break out dancing (the “Arctic Shake”? Ugh!), the stereotypical Hollywood businessman boogyman, hyperbolic environmental messages, and a somewhat disturbing decision to constantly shoot the female lead character from a low position looking up her skirt to highlight her legs and rear.

I know a lot of people work hard to create these things, so it gives me no joy to put this movie down. But this film really had no reason to exist — maybe as one of those cheap straight-to-disc knockoffs, but not as a big screen release.

Nothing in this movie worked in any way. Even in other bad movies like The Tale of Despereaux, The Nut Job, or Strange Magic, there was always some quality worthy of even just mild praise. Here there was absolutely nothing. And that’s not just me putting down a bad movie — I actually looked hard to find something. The best I could come up with was some of the pop music they chose was good.

The only people that might possibly enjoy this film are the very young, like preschool or below. And even then it’s not worth the price of admission with so many other entertainment choices out there. Animation fans who want a taste out of morbid curiosity? Catch the first ten minutes and leave.

Norm of the North is simply unbearable — and I mean that literally, not just as a cute pun!

		Norm of the North Lionsgate, Splash January 15, 2016 86 minutes Rated PG Directed by Trevor Wall