The Boxtrolls (2014) Review!!

Synopsis – A young orphaned boy raised by underground cave-dwelling trash collectors tries to save his friends from an evil exterminator. Based on the children’s novel ‘Here Be Monsters’ by Alan Snow.

My Take – This film is the third feature from Laika Animation, who use stop-motion technique (with some CG and hand-drawn work) & have given us two of the most wonderful films of our time namely; Coraline (2009) & ParaNorman (2012), & If you haven’t yet seen them, it may take you a while to get used to this world. The distinctive factor of this studio is that, instead of creating a colorful world like Disney, they offer a much darker environment from the usual kiddie affair, which can be loved & adored by adults as well (especially who don’t usually watch animated films).

However this time the makers seemed confused with the direction they were interesting in taking. Coraline is one of my favorite animated movies of all time. It had a sort of dark comedy & creepiness which helped in visualizing an equally compelling storyline. This time the film kept shifting from being too amateurish or just too dark. The plot was filled with cliches & a predictable screen play. It seems as the makers were just interested in the animation department & ignored the development of a story. The evil characters in this movie are a bit too evil – one especially makes you feel like he could star in the cartoon version of Hostel. The cruelty to the trolls and the children was uncomfortable to watch. I think I laughed maybe once. Most times I was wincing or feeling like I was on the verge of tears. Things that were off putting to me: They show the evil villain swinging to kill the boys dad with a large wrench, a troll and later the boy are put in a cage, boy’s dad chained upside down for a “decade” who keeps repeating “jelly” because his brain is not right, chasing a child with a bat and swinging to hit them several times, making jokes about killing the boy because he won’t be still then aiming and firing the gun, trolls hit and kicked in their boxes, trolls put in a box crusher machine, and holding a child chained over a fire (even if the outcome didn’t happen) was just too sadistic for an animated film!! & don’t get me started on the cheese eating allergy the the main antagonist had, I agree it was meant to be funny, maybe its just me, who doesn’t appreciate certain reactions to your face or any other body part!

As for the animation, there’s no hiding for the love the studio has for horror movies. The world already looks magnificently whimsical as the filmmakers transcend their stop-motion animating abilities by making grander and crazier set pieces and physical comedy, but when it comes to featuring its creature and character designs, the camp just brings lots of it to life, especially the title characters who can be termed as adorable yet uglier versions of the Minions from the Despicable Me series. On the whole The Box Trolls is visually stunning & endearing, but a repeated storyline & lack of good humor, substance, just left me feeling somewhat at a loss, hugely disappointed!