Os Boxtrolls

This film is recommended.

The Boxtrolls, a well-crafted stop motion animation film combined with the latest CGI advances, is an entertaining but somewhat safer and slightly sanitized film from Laika, the same studio that delivered Coraline and ParaNorman, two earlier children's film with a twisted Gothic edge. A pleasant antidote to the cheery Disney fare regularly served to the young set, the film is diverting fun.

There are still twists and turns in the film but it's less of a giddy roller coaster ride than expected. Based on Alan Snow's novel, Here Be Monsters, the darker tone of the book has been substantially altered and lightened up for a more crowd-pleasing effect, although there are some grotesque moments that may frighten the little ones.

Moviegoers are immediately transported to the dingy squalor of brick factories and small shoppes that line the cobblestone streets of Dicken's Ole Victorian London town, or, in this case, renamed Cheesebridge. The upper and lower class live here, both in fear of the Boxtrolls, a lower lower subspecies that dwell underground who are part monster, part cardboard. Living amidst them is Eggs, an abandoned child who was lovingly raised by these creatures that roam the night to recycle the discarded refuse left by people. They avoid human contact as much as possible. Who can blame them! There is the haughty and aristocratic Lord and Lady Portley-Rind, their inquisitive and precocious daughter, Winnie, and especially Archibald Snatcher, a scheming and hateful villain whose main goal is to do away with all Boxtrolls!

As with most animated films nowadays, the visual elements are far superior to the narrative story. The Boxtrolls are not the exception. While the script has some clever dialog, an involving tale, and its charming characters, the plot becomes too formula-driven and conventional. The screenplay by Irena Brignull and Adam Pava relies too heavily on slapstick and chase sequences rather than developing any deep characterizations. The Boxtrolls themselves lack any real distinctive personalities and that British droll humor is in short supply. Everything seems a tad too predictable and ordinary, except for the artistry of the filmmakers and their wonderful details with the elaborate settings, steam-punk gadgetry, and off-beat characters. Special kudos to the remarkable production design by Paul Lasaine.

The voice-over work by the actors (Isaac Hempstead-Wright, Elle Fanning, Jared Harris, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, and Tracy Morgan) is highly accomplished and adds even more joy to the film, especially with Sir Ben Kingley's marvelous line delivery as the nasty baddie who completely steals the film. (In fact, Archibald is more interesting than our hero, Eggs, at least, as viewed in this film adaptation. Kingsley has created one of the best animated villains in years, although part of his great performance pays direct homage to Dame Edna.)

Directors Graham Annable and Anthony Stacchi painstakingly create a unique world of grime and clutter. They also allow the surreal elements to emerge to maximum effect, particularly in the underground sequences. Though the film lacks some cohesiveness in its story-telling, The Boxtrolls, more often than not, does think outside the box. With all its creative energy and technical inventiveness on display, even Roald Dahl would be proud. GRADE: B

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Wonderful stop-motion animation, great story, and acted very well. I don't understand the negative reviews, if you want Disney, go watch Disney. Darker stuff like this is amazing and we definitely don't get enough of it.

A good metaphor for the movie itself: if you can stomach it, it's a real delicacy, with plenty of interesting themes. The steam-punk early-modern Dutch city inhabited by well-meaning but persecuted trolls was a disquieting environment with multiple filthy (physically and morally) areas that Laika's unique animation explored in various engaging and surprising ways.

My 6-year-old son Sebastian loved it, mostly, I think, because it was disgusting and had plenty of gross jokes and scenes (like the naked trolls who take city hall at the end), but he also got a little tired of it, declaring : "I thought it's never going to end."

Sienna's Rating: 7 Stars Sebastian's Rating: 10 Stars!

Paul's Rating: 7 Stars.

There are cute children's films - like "Frozen, the first movie to which I ever took my granddaughter (then just under three) - and then there is the more challenging kind - like "The Boxtrolls" to which I took her nine months later. We haven't read the source material, the novel "Here Be Monsters!" by Alan Snow, but she knows all about trolls from "Frozen" and other stories and these are very cleverly represented through stop- motion capture by the specialist production company Laika. But it's a little bit scary for young ones, so my granddaughter held on to my hand most of the film and sat on my lap for the final third.

For British adults of a certain age, the characters of the town of Cheesebridge look like people from a Gerald Scarfe cartoon and the subterranean habitat of the boxtrolls themselves is like a cross between the worlds of Heath Robinson and Hieronymus Bosch. The voices are very well-done and for me the best of comes from Ben Kingsley as a hard bad guy and Richard Ayoade as a soft bad guy. Stay for the credits when early on there is a little bit of existential angst on display from two of the stop motion characters.

For the potential viewers of this film, don't worry if you didn't read the book Here Be Monsters! first. The Boxtrolls movie stands on its own as an excellent story wrapped in visuals that pay homage to the craft of stop motion animation. It's funny, clever, gross, a bit cheeky, and a bit dark. Everything kids and many adults who accompany them or with others in the age group will enjoy. Whether it will be a classic or not, is hard to say.

The Boxtrolls are, well, basically trolls that have boxes they use as clothes and safety. They are a modest and timid sort. They are also industrious and like all kinds of gadgets. Since the story takes place around the time of the Industrial Revolution, there is no shortage of gears, crankshafts, bolts, wheels, or any manner of metal part they try to put to some other use. They also are good at babysitting. None more so than Fish and Shoe, the two de facto fathers of one young boy that goes by the name of Eggs (it should be noted that their names are the names of the boxes they wear).

Without getting into too much detail about the origins of their young charge, these three along with the other Boxtrolls have been labeled as kidnapping, baby eating, monsters by the fine townfolk of Cheesebridge. Led by the elite White Hats and their leader Lord Portly-Rind (Jared Harris) and the upwardly mobile Red Hat Archie Snatcher (Ben Kingsley), they have vowed to eradicate their hamlet of the Boxtroll vermin. The only thing more important than accomplishing this task is their love of all types of cheese. Some of the funniest and strangest scenes of the film is the discussions and consumption of cheese by the ruling class and the aforementioned Mr. Snatcher.

Besides a wonderful voice acting performance by Sir Kingsley, The Boxtrolls is full of great turns. Two of Mr. Snatch's henchmen Mr. Pickles and Mr. Trout, (Richard Ayoade and Nick Frost, respectively) offer up metaphysical and philosophical commentary musings about life and their career choices. On the other hand, the overzealous Mr. Gristle (Tracy Morgan) is a man of few words, rather letting his actions do the talking. Elle Fanning (Maleficent) and Isaac Hempstead Wright (Game Of Thrones) are a perfect match as Winnie, the daughter of Lord Portly-Rind and Eggs. She teaches him how to act in public, while he indulges her thirst for all things creepy and crawly.

The look of The Boxtrolls can be summed up in one word: amazing. Not in a super saturated color, larger than life way, but in a painstakingly meticulous, attention to detail way. Although the film is in 3d and might lose something when viewed on a smaller screen, the skill, reverence and affection the animation/modeling team poured into the sets and characters, along with top shelf screen writing and acting make this film one of the best animated features to come out in quite a while.

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