Studio
Laika has stepped over the "that's
cool" line in stop-motion animation and has entered the realm of
"astonishing" in terms of
quality, character/set design, voice acting, and cinematography. But where does all that leave the Boxtrolls'
story?
STORY:
Archibald
Snatcher (voiced by Ben Kingsley) wants nothing more than to be part of the
cheese-eating White Hat club, which includes the city's elite ruling
class. But poor Archie isn't the elite
type. He has too many villain qualities,
disgusting habits, and a hilarious severe allergic reaction to any cheese. So instead he strikes a deal with the White
Hat leader: if he can exterminate every Boxtroll in the city, he'll then be let
into the club. Meanwhile, a boy named
Eggs (voiced by Isaac Hempstead Wright) is being raised by Boxtrolls and
doesn't know he's a boy. When Eggs'
fellow trolls start to disappear, he decides to find out why. Dirty boxes, grotesque people, original character
designs, dancing animated drag queens (yes,
you read that right), dirty kids, giant cheese wheels, and naked troll ass
ensues.
"Sometimes...I just get the feeling there's more out there than this cave--"
"There is. It's called a house, car, iphone, internet--"
"...but then I realize what I have here, like this fantastic box-shirt, and I'm happy again."
THOUGHTS:
The
Boxtrolls looks, acts, smells, animates, and dresses (sometimes, we'll get to that) like a children's film, but it seems
to be shooting for an older audience in theme, jokes, political views, and
moral. The film accidentally pigeonholed
itself into a weird universe where neither child nor adult might understand
just what they watched. Sure, on a basic
level it's a story about two young kids from opposite sides of the tracks
learning about their very different cultures, however there's so much more
happening underneath the simple story with political views and classes, that it
begs the question of whether or not this truly is a children’s film. But let's start off with what the Boxtrolls
does right.
As
with all Laika films, the artistry on display is at a level now that exceeds
any other stop-motion studio. The town's
design—even down to the dirt—is unbelievably well-crafted and original. The sound effects bring every footstep,
gadget, and scene to life.
Cinematography and lighting is astonishing. And the crowds, which when dealing with stop-motion
are an arduous task to animate, are above and beyond what has already been done
in their previous movies. When you look
at the passion and love that is put in each and every piece of this film, there
really isn't another studio out there that has the ability to match the awesome
power of Laika. So if you enjoy just
staring at stop-motion mastery and original design, then the Boxtrolls will not
let you down. The art is at such a high
level, one might say it balances out some of the negatives in the simplistic
story. Speaking of which…
"Can you do me a favor?"
"Sure, boss, we can help you up."
"No, no. Hand me that bottle of whiskey over there. I'll just continue drinking from down here."
After
viewing the Boxtrolls you'll wonder what message is being sent. Is it villains are bad no matter what? Or that the rich are always imbeciles? Or maybe the trolls/poor are slightly
gullible but good? Now,
having those stereotypes in a film isn't a bad thing. Every movie needs its hero and villain. The problem comes when the characters aren't
complicated. This creates characters
that are one-dimensional and—worst of all—very predictable. Only a couple of key characters are slightly
complex. The rest of the cast act and
stay exactly how you thought they would.
So if you're looking for a twist or magical ending, you might be
slightly disappointed.
The
moral on the other hand is about standing up and fighting for what you think is
right and also making your own choices.
And both morals are excellent mottos to live by, but are they too much
for children? Is the film too heavy
handed in political themes for kids and would an adult enjoy the movie if they
weren't watching it with their children?
It all depends on how deep you want to look into the film. You could just sit there and pretend not
notice the political statements being made—including the ending credits song—but
that'd be quite hard considering they're shoved in your face the entire
movie. The last point about how this may
or may not be a children's film is the dancing, singing, drag queen. The problem isn't that a drag queen is in the
movie, it's the fact that your youngster might turn around confused and ask
what that is. So every parent has a
choice of whether or not to open that can of worms now, or maybe wait a few
years.
"A young girl told me today that she thought my box-shirt was disgusting."
"Graahrrg."
"Yeah, I know. It was the single most awesome thing anyone has ever said to me."
THE VOICE
ACTING:
The
cream of the crop here is Ben Kingsley as you can barely pick up his natural
voice. His Archibald Snatcher is
devilish to no end and continuously creepy in every scene. Snatcher's henchmen: Mr. Trout (Nick Frost),
Mr. Pickles (Richard Ayoade), and Mr. Gristle (Tracy Morgan) are the slight
comic relief, but truly don't stand out when placed next to Kingsley's
Snatcher. The main character, Eggs, is
expertly voiced by Isaac Hempstead Wright and Elle Fanning's voice for Winnie
is perfect for the role. But the real
stars of the film are of course the trolls.
Just don't count on them to say too much. The trolls' emotions are mainly shown through
body language (which is animated
excellence), but they do occasionally mumble through their words. They sound like gremlins when they open their
mouth, but are mainly just uglier versions of Despicable Me's minions. The trolls are goofy, disgusting, and some
are even quite stupid, but they do know how to create gadgets and that comes in
handy in the film's simplistic plot.
"Nah, no thanks, I already had quite a few beetles for lunch. I'm going to wait until they
stop crawling around in my stomach before I eat again."
CONCLUSION:
The
Boxtrolls is another beautiful work of art by studio Laika. If you're looking for exquisite stop-motion,
original characters (even though most are
ugly), fantastic sets, and wonderful sound design, then you're
covered. If you're looking for a
children's story that is fun to watch over and over again at any age, then you
might be slightly disappointed. Too many
adult themes and political undertones put the film in a category where neither
child nor parent might find the movie entertaining or engaging. This might leave the Boxtrolls as a story
you'll watch once and then never come back to again…but that's okay, because
you still have Frozen to watch for the thousandth time and that's absolutely
heaven in any parent's world.
3 out of 5 Stars (add a star for cinematography, art direction, and for voice-acting)
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