The Movie Diorama
When I say it's the weakest, it's not a negative remark because Laika have been pumping out consistently good animations that are enjoyable for everyone. This is no different, it's just up against a strong canon. As the title suggests, this is all about Boxtrolls. Mischievous crafty little creatures that hide themselves underground...and dress in boxes...and each are named after their boxed contents such as Fish...Eggs...Shoe...and I think at one point we had Oil? Once again, completely imaginative and that is really where the enjoyment comes from, the creativity was utilised to its maximum potential. A town living in fear of Boxtrolls where a cheese enthusiast employs the assistance of a wannabe cheese enthusiast, who is allergic to cheese, to exterminate them so that he can enjoy cheese in the royal cheese tasting room. Did I mention that cheese was involved? It's bonkers. Our villain is villainous because he wants to wear a white hat. ALL of this, for a white hat. Just...just beautiful. Obviously conveying the point of just being yourself no matter your background or materialistic ambitions. I always appreciate stop motion animation, it's such a time consuming craft that really conveys the creator's inventiveness well. There are moments where computer animation intertwines with the stop motion, and unfortunately is noticeable, but for the most part looks stunning. The voice acting was spot on!! I could not believe that Snatcher was voice by Ben Kingsley, ridiculously good! Jared Harris and Richard Ayoade were also noteworthy and brought life into their characters. Some of these characters are not as fleshed out as I would like, but are certainly memorable. From a miniature henchman who captures Boxtrolls like The Terminator to Snatcher's burlesque alter ego Madame Frou Frou. Plenty of funny moments as well, I thought the script was well rounded and easily appeals to both children and adults. The story is somewhat basic but Laika utilised imagination to the max and it paid off.
ryandannar
"The Boxtrolls" is the third stellar stop-motion film produced by Laika, the same production company that also made the excellent "Coraline" and the underrated "ParaNorman." It is a superior animated film -- far better than most animated features that see widespread release. It's funny, a little bit "scary," smart, a little profound, and altogether wonderful. Also, its detailed stop-motion animation is a marvel to watch.The story of "Boxtrolls" involves an orphaned boy who is adopted by a race of box-wearing creatures who live under the streets of the towering British hamburg of Cheesebridge. These creatures, the boxtrolls, are gentle, misunderstood tinkerers, who come up out of the manhole-covers at night to scavenge for whatever shiny trinkets and machine-parts they can find lying about. They also fix things, oil squeaky hinges and whatnot. Then they retire to their underground cave, and work on building their fantastical, Rube Goldberg-esque contraptions.The boy, who grows to the cusp of adolescence believing himself to be a boxtroll, is named Eggs. The boxtrolls, being an extremely practical lot, take their names from whatever box they wear. The stencil on the boy's box says "Eggs." So that's what they call him. The trolls have, alas, come under the scorn of the population of Cheesebridge, whose fears are fueled by the colorfully horrific stories of Archibald Snatcher, a pest-exterminator who wants to destroy every last boxtroll, for reasons which are fairly transparent but also kind of hilariously specific. Snatcher spins tales of the boxtrolls sneaking into unlocked rooms at night, kidnapping infant children, devouring them, and picking their teeth with the bones. The boy we know as Eggs, in fact, figures prominently into the mythology Snatcher spins.The boxtrolls, therefore, find their numbers dwindling as Snatcher and his three goons persist in their extermination efforts. Rattling recklessly through the narrow streets at night atop his towering pest- control truck, intoning tales of horror through the truck's public- address system, and encouraging the terrified citizens of Cheesebridge to STAY INSIDE AFTER CURFEW, Snatcher is a nightmarish presence. He is voiced by Ben Kingsley (Ghandi!), who brings a theatrical kind of menace (and humor) to the role. He must have had a lot of fun with this part.Lord Portly-Rind, who is sort of the mayor of Cheesebridge, doesn't quite know what to do with Snatcher. Portly-Rind simply wants to spend as much time as possible in his mansion's "Tasting Room," where he and his upper-crust company don white hats and pretend to make important decisions, but really just spend their time tasting expensive cheeses. And yet, here is Snatcher talking tales of horror, and promising Portly- Rind that he'll make the streets safe again... in exchange for a white hat.Because Snatcher wants, more than anything else, to be accepted amongst the Cheesebridge upper-crust. His wildest ambition is to share the cheese in Portly-Rind's tasting-room, regardless of the fact that cheese does unspeakable things to his body.Meanwhile, Portly-Rind has a daughter, Winnie, who is frustrated by the lack of attention she receives from her dad. So, she acts out in certain ways, and has developed a rather morbid fixation on the boxtrolls and the horror she thinks they represent.The story involves Eggs' efforts to locate Fish -- the troll who has become his surrogate father -- after Fish is abducted by Snatcher's goons. This journey leads Eggs to cross paths with Winnie, who is fascinated by his familiarity with boxtrolls, and who essentially ends up teaming-up with him.The story is quirky and funny, and younger children might find it a little scary, but its scariness is of the sort that children often delight in, portrayed with glee and a ghoulish sense of fun, and never with a cynical or mean-spirited sensibility.My favorite bits of the film involved two of Snatcher's goons, Mr. Pickles and Mr. Trout, who are under the impression that they're the "good guys" in the battle against the boxtrolls."Do you think these boxtrolls understand the duality of good and evil, Mr. Trout?" asks Mr. Pickles as he and his cohorts close-in on a cowering boxtroll in an alleyway."I suppose so," replies Mr. Trout. "They know we're the good guys. That's why they run from us."This amusing and unexpected semi-philosophical banter continues throughout the film, as the two men begin to suspect that perhaps they're not playing on the team they want to be playing on.These asides are kind of brilliant, and refreshing to hear in an animated feature. And it's hard to argue with the film's theme of acceptance, as the citizens of Cheesebridge gradually learn that they have nothing to fear from the boxtrolls. There's another theme, too, wrapped-up in how Archibald Snatcher is revealed to be the film's true villain; it's about how self-interested people can prey on popular ignorance, dividing us out of fear, to serve their own ends.It's fairly heady material for a kids' film, sure. But kids will be entertained by the action-packed adventure elements, and the various funny gross-out moments (like Eggs and the boxtrolls feasting on bugs). The fact that those kid-friendly elements are wrapped-up in a story as smart and original as this is quite special.One more note: If you do watch this film, be sure to stick around during the ending credits. There's a scene involving Mr. Pickles and Mr. Trout about halfway through the credits, which reveals the labor- intensive animation process. It's kind of breathtaking, and rather profound.
