The Boxtrolls Review

Thinking Inside The Box

I admire the fact that LAIKA seems willing to have a wide variety of tones in their cinematic work. While DreamWorks Animation proudly boasts of trying to make each film emulate the comedic stingily of Shrek as closely as possible, LAIKA has a distinctive atmosphere for each of their three features. Still, that kind of efforts doesn't excuse the prominent flaws found in The Boxtrolls, a film with plenty of charm, but a surprising lack of focus.

At the center of the film is a fairly simple story; a town obsessed with cheese believes creatures called Boxtrolls are evil creatures thanks to a man named Archibald Snatcher (Ben Kingsley) and his rampant effort to make the critters out to be man-eating monsters. In reality, they're much friendlier and smarter beasts that wouldn't hurt a fly. Why, they even adopted and taken care of a human boy they've dubbed Eggs (played by Isaac Hempstead-Wright). There's an unexpectedly large shift in quality in terms of the success of Eggs and the Boxtrolls as character; Eggs is actually a nicely realized person who has humorous moments adjusting to the human world, while his emotional moments are also done in an effective manner.

Unfortunately, those titular Boxtrolls are a mess. Only one of them, Fish (whose a father figure to Eggs) leaves any sort of impact, the rest of them just stand as one-note gags. Any attempts to wring pathos out of these guys falls flat, which is a trend many other supposedly meaningful moments in the film fall prey to. A good example of this shortcoming is in the relationship between a girl named Winnie (Elle Fanning) and her father, Lord Portley-Rind, which is done in a humorous manner for most of the film, with her ignoring her frequently through the film. This gets some laughs, but a last minute attempt to add depth to their relationship feels clunky, not tender.

That being said, the animation in the film certainly fares better. The environments and characters are brought to vivid life thanks to the art of clay-motion animation, which allows for some nicely distinctive character designs and striking environments. Honestly, I could just watch the over-the-top movements of Archibald Snatcher for hours, simply due to well executed they are in this artform. Of course, that particular character does get the added benefit of having one of the better vocal performances I've heard in a 2014 feature, with Ben Kingsley enunciating every single letter in every word that comes out of his mouth in an entertaining fashion.

By the time The Boxtrolls reaches a climax that goes on way too long (other portions of the film have similar pacing problems, leaving a film that really should have been at least 10 minutes shorter), I had the feeling I had just watched a feature that was decent, watchable, charming, yet very obviously lacking. It's not bad or even a mediocre affair, but The Boxtrolls wastes some great animation and a unique protagonist by pairing them with numerous middling aspects that leave a venture that's fine enough to watch, but lacking in the substance and innovation that marked LAIKA's past efforts.