Laika Entertainment,
Elle Fanning, Simon Pegg, Toni Collette, Tracy Morgan, Ben Kingsley
Based on the children’s novel ‘Here Be Monsters’ by Alan Snow, The Boxtrolls is the story of a bunch of cave dwelling creatures who wear boxes to cover themselves. They took in and raised an orphan human child named Eggs. But when villain Archibald Snatcher devises a plan to destroy the Boxtrolls, Eggs brings them above ground to fight back.
This is one of the animated features from Laika Entertainment who have done some quirky mostly dark stories like Coraline and ParaNorman. They specialize in stop motion animation, where characters and scenes are filmed one frame at a time, and slightly moved in between frames. This is a very tedious way to make a movie with the powerful computers and CGI that we have have today, but it shows the love they put into their craft. The Boxtrolls is another movie, like the others. The story is good, and the technique they use make it a beautiful thing to watch. The films made by this team are always good, but always a little off kilter to keep you wondering. I’m not sure if the really young kids will enjoy this or not, that’s pretty hard for me to predict. But it’s a certainly a treat for those adult animation lovers who will be impressed with the style and feel of the film. I really enjoyed it, and thought it was well done. All in all it was an enjoyable experience. The whole concept is a little strange, and that’s what made it most interesting for me. If you’re not put off by the darkness of the story, I think you’ll find it an enjoyable experience.
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