cute

Another absolute delight from Laika, the stop-motion animation house behind ParaNorman and the masterful Coraline, one of my favorite animated films of all-time. The company's authorial touch—their sophisticated and often dry sense of humor coupled with a potent love for the melancholy and the macabre—is evident throughout The Boxtrolls. The benevolent title monsters are urban scavengers. At night, they emerge from their underground world and scour the streets in search of misplaced objects, and they integrate them into their strange and wonderful Rube Goldberg machines. Among them lives Eggs, a human child so named because he, yes, dons a box emblazoned with the word "eggs." His doting troll father figure is Fish. Above ground, an ambitious and cruel man with the apt name of Archibald Snatcher (voiced with grotesquely artificial charisma by Ben Kingsley) wages an elaborate propaganda war against the trolls, painting a false portrait of them as flesh-devouring demons. He is promised a white hat (a symbol of prestige and political influence in the fictional town of Cheesebridge) if he can capture and destroy each and every one of them. Indeed, he does search for and imprison them, secretly utilizing the ones he catches as slave labor.

The way the dastardly Archibald Snatcher portrays the trolls as a malevolent, one-size-of-condemnation-fits-all "other" among the the mainstream and patrician populace, as well as his exploitation and extermination of them, is honestly evocative of the Holocaust. It is the type of disturbing and provocative flourish which gives the film depth and dimension beyond the surface-level charm of its fast-paced action set pieces and its awe-inspiring visual design (the craft and patience stop-motion animation requires is always astounding). It is a film overflowing with fascinating touches and worthy diversions. Consider, for instance, Snatcher henchmen Mr. Trout and Mr. Pickles, voiced by Nick Frost and Richard Ayoade, respectively. Though a bit dim and easily led, they are always contemplating their place in the world and whether they are truly on the right side of history as they go on nocturnal troll hunts. Their self-doubting antagonism is ingenious, playful, and, in a way, thought-provoking, and so is the overall film.

A-

David's review is spot-on.

I'll just add that all the voice work here is exceptional. Collectively, it's the best voice acting Laika Studios has gotten from its actors so far I believe.

And stay for the mid-credits for a fun scene with Mr. Trout and Mr. Pickles.

Tremendous fun, and I agree with the comments above. I love the British humor coupled with the odd world sense that we've seen in other Laika films.

This was really good and completely adorable. The animation was beautiful and I loved the relationship with the two kids. It does run a tad long by the end though. That being said, it is the best animated film of the year so far and will probably stay that way. Take that How to Train Your Dragon 2.

B+

Holy shit was this disappointing. It was boring as fuck. It started okay, but gradually got more formulaic and predictable as it went on. I feel really bad for the animators. The intricacy of the stop motion animation should really elevate a film like this, but with the exception of the actual box trolls, who are indeed adorable and endearing, the environment and human characters are ugly, stilted and drained of color. I checked my watch so many times during this film, I was so glad when it was over. It had an occasionally clever joke every once in a while and the Boxtrolls song was surprisingly good for a song not from a Disney animated movie. But these small things are not enough to recommend. the fact that this got an Oscar nomination over The Lego Movie is a travesty.

I have not seen Coraline, and was underwhelmed by Paranorman, so I wasn't sure what to expect here. Maybe Coraline will change my mind, but until then I remain unswayed by Laika Animation.

D

Both ParaNorman and The Boxtrolls are much, much better than Caroline, IMO.

Coraline is one of the greatest animated films of all-time.

This was quite enjoyable. Liked it quite a bit more than I thought I would.

B+/A-