3 out of 4 stars
Directed by Graham Annable & Anthony Stacchi
Featuring the Voices of: Ben Kingsley, Isaac Hempstead Wright, Elle Fanning, Jared Harris, Nick Frost, Richard Ayoade, Simon Pegg, Dee Bradley Baker, Steve Blum, Tracy Morgan
Rated PG for action, some peril and mild rude humor.
Verdict: Visually sumptuous and patently bizarre, Laika's latest stop-motion animated feature film is charming and rickety, but while it may overindulge itself, it's goodhearted and more family-friendly than their previous films without sacrificing their trademark edge.
YOU MAY ENJOY THE BOXTROLLS IF YOU LIKED:
PARANORMAN (2012)
JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH (1996)
LABYRINTH (1986)
CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG (1968)
MR. TOAD'S WILD RIDE (1996)
THE BOXTROLLS is the third independent feature film from the stop-motion animation studio Laika, the creators of the disarmingly frightening "family" films CORALINE and PARANORMAN, both great movies (especially the latter), but also the kind that are aimed at the kiddie crowd only to leave those kids in tears, dragging their now-interested chaperones out into the lobby. BOXTROLLS, while still on the edgy side, is significantly lighter, more family-friendly fare in the vein of Roald Dahl's offbeat children's literature. Unfortunately, what starts out very strong loses focus toward the final act, and the uninhibited bizarreness will probably be a hurdle for many audiences. When it works though, it works great, and it's always fun with a good heart and no shortage of very unique energy.
Based on the children's novel Here Be Monsters! by Alan Snow, the Boxtrolls are mischievous but harmless little gremlins who live beneath the streets of Cheesebridge, an eccentric, little, cheese-loving town that lives in fear of the of them. After a baby boy is taken by the Boxtrolls and presumably eaten by them, a malicious and ambitious exterminator named Archibald Snatcher (spectacularly voiced by Ben Kingsley, but in appearance, a cross between Robert Helpmann as the Child Catcher in CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG and Timothy Spall in most movies) negotiates a deal with the mayor, Lord Portley-Rind (voiced by Jared Harris). What Snatcher desires more than anything is to have a White Hat, and sit in the Tasting Room with Portley-Rind and the other White Hats of the town council, talking about addressing civil issues, but mostly tasting varieties of exotic cheeses. For this, Snatcher swears to exterminate every last Boxtroll, but the Trubshaw Baby, whose kidnapping by the Boxtrolls is commemorated every year with garish festivities, was never actually eaten, but rather, lovingly raised by them as one of their own under the name Eggs (voiced by Isaac Hempstead Wright). The number of Boxtrolls decreases over the years as Snatcher and his henchmen (voiced by Nick Frost, Richard Ayoade & Tracy Morgan), but when they catch Fish, Eggs' loving surrogate father, Eggs ventures above ground and teams up with Portley-Rind's fiery but morbid daughter Winnie (voiced by Elle Fanning) to rescue the Boxtrolls from Snatcher and uncover his dastardly plans.
Visually, THE BOXTROLLS is Laika at the top of their game with a style that blends storybook illustrations with the warped visions of THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI (1920). As gorgeous a medium as it can be, with the stylized forms of animation in handcrafted photographic realism, it's unfortunate that stop-motion animation has been unable to find a foothold with mainstream audiences (the only one to gross $100 million in the U.S. is 2000's CHICKEN RUN). There is something about the art form that seems to attract the darker eccentricities of animators, who usually adopt the painstaking process to indulge whimsical nightmares within the boundaries of a PG rating for family marketability (Aardman, of CHICKEN RUN and WALLACE & GROMIT, being the lighthearted exception). THE BOXTROLLS is more eccentric than dark, although it is both, and it works best when purveying a sense of discovery and oddball heart, which is strongest throughout the first half of the film as we get know the Boxtrolls and their world, and the relationship between Eggs and Fish. Archibald Snatcher dominates most of the later half, and while his cross-dressing antics and Ben Kingsley's bravura comic performance have the sense of Monty Python's brand of dark and bizarre buffoonery, it's not as witty as that or as fulfilling as exploring the Boxtrolls' world (two of Snatcher's stooges, voiced by Richard Ayoade and Nick Frost, are an inspired comedic duo however). Speaking of Monty Python, troupe member Eric Idle wrote "The Boxtrolls Song" which plays over the end credits and has the feel of a Peter, Paul & Mary folk tune, which aptly sums up the movie's weirdness. It works a bit better in the song though.
It's a funny little film with lots of charm, but the energy and eccentricity that works so well at the start becomes the film's major flaw when it upsets the balance and overindulges.
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