Director: Graham Annable, Anthony Stacchi
Writer: Irena Brignull, Adam Pava (Screenplay) Alan Snow (Novel)
Starring: (Voice Talents) Isaac Hempstead Wright, Ben Kingsley, Elle Fanning, Jared Harris, Nick Frost, Richard Ayoade, Tracy Morgan
Plot: A young orphaned boy raised by underground cave-dwelling trash collectors tries to save his friends from an evil exterminator.
Tagline – Dare to be square.
Runtime: 1 hour 36 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Fun, but Dark Animation
Story: The Boxtrolls starts in a rich town, where Lord Portley-Rind wants the town to get rid of the Boxtrolls that come out at night to collect trash, they get Snatcher and his team to hunt them down, when the Boxtrolls raise an orphaned boy Eggs, he grows up to question the behavior of the town and the Boxtrolls.
When Eggs goes into the human world, he learns that truth about how the world sees the Boxtrolls and must prove to them along with the daughter of Lord Portley-Rind, Winnie, they can bring the end to the battle between the two sides.
Thoughts on The Boxtrolls
Characters – Eggs was raised by the Boxtrolls, he believes he is one, until he meets a human girl, with this new discovery, he learns why the Boxtrolls are not loved on the surface and his own identity, to whom he must end the war between the two side. Snatcher is the evil hunter that wants a higher status within the town, using the idea that he will clean up the town of the Boxtrolls, however much he is behind the whole problem within the town. Lord Portley-Rind is the highest ranked person in the town, he is completely self-centred, not seeing the biggest picture in the town, including his own daughter. Winnie is the adventurous daughter of the Lord that believes every Boxtrolls legend and the first to see the Eggs, helping his discover the truth. Each of the Boxtrolls has their ow unique look and actions through the film too.
Story – The story shows us how one town can believe in a legend without ever learning the truth about the so-called evil in the town. We get to see the difference in classes and how they treat different parts of the society, how the lowest community is closer and willing to do everything to work together. We get a big lesson on not treating people different in life while giving us a fun adventure about making it in your own way in life.
Adventure/Comedy – The adventure takes Eggs from what he believes in his home, into the big world, where he can discover and put an end to a battle between the people of the surface. The comedy will get chuckles with each of the Boxtrolls action in the film.
Settings – The film is set in a town where there is a clear class system in place, we see how the different classes treat each other and how they must learn to change for the better.
Animation – The animation is stop-motion which is always a joy to see just how much commitment went into the film to make it looks so beautiful.
Scene of the Movie – The final battle.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Not sure how the Boxtrolls were seen before the event happened at the start.
Final Thoughts – This is a fun animation that will get laughs along the way, it might be darker than it needed to be, which could scary a younger audience.
Overall: Stop-motion at its finest.
Rating
