The Boxtrolls Reviews

Laika has great ability when it comes to seamless stop-motion and their stories are clever and quirky. This film doesn't go off-trend but it does lack in comedy where there should be. The characters, especially the trolls named after their previous box contents, are memorable and it's a good addition to the Laika brand.

<h3>6.4/10

Yesterday, my daughter was really eager to see a movie and, to my surprise, she chose this one. To be honest, I didn’t know much about this flick and I first thought it was actually a drawn animated feature. I was therefore positively surprised that it was actually a stop-motion feature produced by the guys responsible for ‘Coraline’ and ‘ParaNorman’. Well, to be honest, I must admit that the whole thing was really confusing when it all started. Indeed, since the running time was fairly long for an animated feature (more than 90 minutes), it felt as if they just skipped any form of introduction and it took me seriously 20 minutes to fully grasp who was who and what the hell was going on and I can’t imagine how confusing it must have been for young kids. Anyway, when I was finally able to grasp the story, I was slightly bothered by the fact that the boxtrolls, obviously an oppressed minority, were completely helpless without the assistance of this white boy. Maybe I’m going too far in my analysis but I thought it was rather condescending that without this white boy, they would have been pretty much lost. Still, the story was actually fairly entertaining and the animation was just downright impressive. I mean, the amount of details was just amazing and I can’t imagine how much work it must have been to create all this. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I thought it was still a decent animated feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Of the five films nominated for Best Animated Feature at this year’s Oscar ceremony, The Boxtrolls is undoubtedly the weakest of the lot. Shame, as normally Laika produces my favorite nominee in the given year. No, I’m not quite over the failure of both Coraline and ParaNorman to win in their respective years.

The main problem with The Boxtrolls is that its disparate parts never weld together as well as Laika’s other feature films managed. There are elements of class struggles, racism, family structures and dynamics, and two villainous sidekicks who continually have existential moments of doubt of whether what they are doing is good or bad. That’s a lot for any film to carry, and it doesn’t always carry it evenly towards its finish line.

Not to mention the strange diversion in which we learn that a main character is essentially a drag queen and loves it, with little explanation as to why they’re doing this and what they hope to achieve with it. Or the lone major female character who is a concoction of entitled brat, snide, smart, and exceedingly bossy. She mostly hovers around shrilly, but every so often, they’ll color her character with more depth by revealing a morbid streak as deep and wide as her privileged entitlement.

This isn’t Laika’s first dud by any means, but it is a strangely convoluted film. Doesn’t mean it isn’t without Laika’s typical attention to warm textures, colors, and highly detailed worlds. This one more asymmetrical, creating a colorful underground where the boxtrolls reside filled with mechanical gizmos and a quirky sense of construction. It’s always a pleasure to sit back and absorb the beauty of their hand-crafted worlds and unique character designs. The Boxtrolls assigns each of the titular trolls with a separate identity by outfitting their boxes with a specific design, much like the seven dwarfs were named after their dominant trait.

There’s plenty to admire and warmly greet in this film, and maybe my more muted reaction to the film is more emblematic of my out-sized expectations on a Laika product than the product itself. What’s here is fine quality, but it’s not a patch on their previous works.

I'm not really a big clay-mation fan for the most part, but the cast for this caught my eye. So I decided to go ahead and check it out. For a family movie this can be quite disturbing. There is a kid that eats bugs, a murdering cross dresser who has a disgusting allergy towards cheese , and townspeople who are basically cheese addicts. The boxtrolls are so adorable and fun to watch. It's along the lines of gross child movies like Coraline and Nightmare Before Christmas, but slightly more disturbing and uncomfortable. I think parents shouldn't let their kids watch this by themselves. That being said I think this had a good message behind it. It's a cute film with interesting characters. It's definitely a different kind of kids movie.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

It's funny how they're marketing this as "from the makers of ParaNorman" even though it doesn't share any of the same creative team. It's presumably the same animators, though: same studio, and the art design looks very similar. It also shares those movies' dark, mildly creepy edge, though maybe not quite to the same extent.
Aside from that, it's a standard but still interesting kids' movie about family values.
The animation, of course, is wonderful, especially when you first see the Boxtrolls' lair.
One of my favourite parts is when it's established how misguided the villain's goal is; you don't often see a villain who has no idea that he's doing himself in like that.
I have mixed feelings about the Winnie character. On one hand, her sick obsession with bloodthirsty violence really made me laugh. But on the other hand, there's a scene where she won't stop screaming and gets annoying really fast.
All in all, pretty good, but probably nothing that's going to stick with me.

My rating: 70%

The Boxtrolls upholds a fine tradition of stop-motion animated films. Beginning with Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas (critically NOT directed by Tim Burton), and followed by nearly a dozen other notable efforts, the genre of stop-motion films have been consistently released to critical acclaim. And so, it's something of a testament to the strength of the genre that The Boxtrolls is the least well-received film of its kind, despite favorable reviews. Indeed, like the many stop motion films that have preceded it, The Boxtrolls is charming, funny, and visually stunning.

Every night, a race of creatures called boxtrolls (named for the boxes they wear as clothes) come out from hiding and plunder the streets of garbage and anything they happen to find that strikes their fancy. Among them is a boy named Eggs who thinks he's a boxtroll (his name comes from the label on his box). Unfortunately for Eggs and the boxtrolls, an evil man is in charge of exterminating every one of them, so the race begins to go into decline. But there's something strange about all of this, and Winnie - a young girl - is going to get to the bottom of this, along with Eggs.

There are several reasons why I think The Boxtrolls has been received less warmly than other stop-motion films. For one, it's more childish. It's louder and sillier. There's lots of slapstick and an unusually high amount of gross-out gags. The premise isn't developed much, and there's a surprising lack of heart. Also, the finale consists of a great, big action sequence that's more loud and silly than satisfying or engaging. With all that being said, The Boxtrolls is still a delightful picture; allow me to explain quite why.

The visual appearance of the film accounts for much of its charm (as is typically the case for stop-motion films). It's (needless to say) gorgeous, some sequences are unbelievably beautiful. And the character designs are hilariously fun. The overall art direction makes it look like it's come right out of a storybook. The Boxtrolls packs loads of visual splendor that's so strong, it could carry the movie if the script wasn't already enough to do the job.

That's not to say that the script is great, but it's very good. There's a bit of substance here (but not too much), and the gags usually find their mark. Even the gross-out gags work pretty well, never seeming too gratuitous or grating. Of course, the premise itself is very loosely explained. It's never understood why the boxtrolls must come out every night, other than desire for other people's junk. Surely the reason must be very important since they're risking their night each time they leave their habitat.

And as I mentioned, there's not as much heart as one might hope. The Tarzan-like origin for Eggs would suggest a more emotional, family-oriented storyline, but the film is low on profound moments. Most of the time, it aims to be a wacky adventure/comedy, and it works well in that respect. Still, one can't be faulted for being at least a little disappointed that it didn't embrace its more emotionally charged potential, especially after some very sweet opening moments.

The characters are generally more distinctive and interesting than other animated films. While the boxtrolls themselves are more or less the same (they play out like ickier versions of the minions from Despicable Me), the human characters are fairly diverse, though not always intricate. Eggs is very likable, and his youth and naivety makes him feel a little different from other bland, heroic protagonists. Likewise, the spunky Winnie differs a little bit from the feminist crowd by suggesting a curious interest in grim stories and violence (fueled by malicious rumors of the boxtrolls).

Various side characters are characterized by their lack of interest in younger children and their fondness for cheese. They never pay attention to our protagonists, no matter how important their discoveries are. Depending on the person, this will either be funny or frustrating. Likely both.

By far the strongest character in the film is the villain, Archibald Snatcher. A sort of cross between Syndrome from The Incredibles and the title character from Wreck-It Ralph, Archibald is determined to earn himself a white cap (a sign of prestige), and is forced to be a wicked person (by killing the boxtrolls), so that he can be perceived as a respectable person. Though the character's resolution is a bit anti-climatic, the depth of this character exceeds that of many other animated villains.

Likewise, Ben Kingsley's vocal performance as the villain is the standout of the cast. He's absolutely riotous at times, and one of the disguises he often dons - though completely unexplained - gives Kingsley a chance to be even more comedic and memorable. Isaac Hempstead-Wright and Elle Fanning are surprisingly strong in starring roles as Eggs and Winnie respectively. Nick Frost, Richard Ayoade, Tracy Morgan, and Simon Pegg are also wonderful in small roles.

Dario Marianelli's score is very much like the film; a little wacky, but utterly charming. The main theme's strong similarity to a primary theme from Danny Elfman's Frankenweenie is not the only resemblance to Elfman's work, but the sound is suitable for the picture. It's enjoyably quirky and contains some colorful instrumentation to brighten things up. Definitely a noteworthy step into animation, as this is Marianelli's first score for the field.

Yes, it's not as delightfully adult as Laika's Coraline (nor likely as much as ParaNorman which I have not yet seen), but it's a wonder all the same. I suspect The Boxtrolls will actually perform better with audiences in general, due to its less mature nature - and therefore, broader appeal. And yet, it still retains that edge that has made Laika releases such an occasion. It's not the strongest stop motion film to grace the silver screen, but it's absolutely worth a trip to the cinema.