not as good as all the hype

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

Ever since Laika came into the spotlight in 2009, they have crafted some fantastic stop motion animated movies starting with "Coraline". The movies which are technically crafted by hand are brought to life with the use of photography and careful movement of puppets which I have always loved seeing. Now, we have the next movie from the studio known as "The Boxtrolls". It's an impressive looking movie with many cute moments, but maybe it's a little too cute and simple for audiences tastes especially considering the other animated movies that came out the year it came out. Want to know why? Well, I'll explain.In the hill topped village known as Cheesebridge, the antagonistic Archibald Snatcher (Ben Kingsley) has been trying to hunt and exterminate the trolls in the city known as the box trolls (the reason is because they wear cardboard boxes) after they have kidnapped and supposedly killed a baby in hopes to join the elite group known as the White Hats so he can try the many cheeses they taste despite being lactose intolerant. The trolls in reality have raised the baby boy known as Eggs (Isaac Hempstead Wright) has lived in secret with the trolls helping top protect them from the exterminators and turning discarded objects into creative inventions. Years go by and Eggs has continued to live with the trolls when he is discovered by the daughter of the leader of Cheesebridge, Winnie (Elle Fanning). Disgusted by the way the town sees the trolls, Eggs tries to convince Winnie to see the reality of the trolls and free them from the evil Archibald Snatcher. I think you can figure out the rest from there.Though I did enjoy the film, I did have some problems that may make some people a little disappointed. The story of the film is a nice and simple story, it isn't as big as Laika's previous movies . I remember how huge a movie like "Coraline" was especially with it's climax and comparing it with this film did make me wish that there should have been more to it. Even the ending of this film was a little anticlimactic in a way. As for the animation, it's once again fantastic. I really appreciate the time and effort that the artists went into creating the details of the film. The village in particular was very impressive. I loved how huge it was and how much tiny details were added into it. Even the character animation was very smooth and felt perfect. Now, how are the characters? Pretty good. I liked how cute the boxtrolls were, thought Archibald Snatcher was a great villain brought to life by a fantastic performance by Ben Kingsley, and really liked the attitude that Elle Fanning brought to Winnie. As for Eggs, he could have been a better main character. I thought he was pretty bland at times and should have been written a little better at times. He wasn't a bad character, but he just wasn't very memorable. I think that was about it."The Boxtrolls" is definitely a very cute movie with a decent simple story, fantastic animation, and some mostly good characters. I don't think it's up there with Laika's best movies as I do think this is there weakest effort to date though I can easily say that the movie is nowhere near awful. It's was a very nice movie and it's easily something I can watch again.

"The Boxtrolls" is the third stellar stop-motion film produced by Laika, the same production company that also made the excellent "Coraline" and the underrated "ParaNorman." It is a superior animated film -- far better than most animated features that see widespread release. It's funny, a little bit "scary," smart, a little profound, and altogether wonderful. Also, its detailed stop-motion animation is a marvel to watch.The story of "Boxtrolls" involves an orphaned boy who is adopted by a race of box-wearing creatures who live under the streets of the towering British hamburg of Cheesebridge. These creatures, the boxtrolls, are gentle, misunderstood tinkerers, who come up out of the manhole-covers at night to scavenge for whatever shiny trinkets and machine-parts they can find lying about. They also fix things, oil squeaky hinges and whatnot. Then they retire to their underground cave, and work on building their fantastical, Rube Goldberg-esque contraptions.The boy, who grows to the cusp of adolescence believing himself to be a boxtroll, is named Eggs. The boxtrolls, being an extremely practical lot, take their names from whatever box they wear. The stencil on the boy's box says "Eggs." So that's what they call him. The trolls have, alas, come under the scorn of the population of Cheesebridge, whose fears are fueled by the colorfully horrific stories of Archibald Snatcher, a pest-exterminator who wants to destroy every last boxtroll, for reasons which are fairly transparent but also kind of hilariously specific. Snatcher spins tales of the boxtrolls sneaking into unlocked rooms at night, kidnapping infant children, devouring them, and picking their teeth with the bones. The boy we know as Eggs, in fact, figures prominently into the mythology Snatcher spins.The boxtrolls, therefore, find their numbers dwindling as Snatcher and his three goons persist in their extermination efforts. Rattling recklessly through the narrow streets at night atop his towering pest- control truck, intoning tales of horror through the truck's public- address system, and encouraging the terrified citizens of Cheesebridge to STAY INSIDE AFTER CURFEW, Snatcher is a nightmarish presence. He is voiced by Ben Kingsley (Ghandi!), who brings a theatrical kind of menace (and humor) to the role. He must have had a lot of fun with this part.Lord Portly-Rind, who is sort of the mayor of Cheesebridge, doesn't quite know what to do with Snatcher. Portly-Rind simply wants to spend as much time as possible in his mansion's "Tasting Room," where he and his upper-crust company don white hats and pretend to make important decisions, but really just spend their time tasting expensive cheeses. And yet, here is Snatcher talking tales of horror, and promising Portly- Rind that he'll make the streets safe again... in exchange for a white hat.Because Snatcher wants, more than anything else, to be accepted amongst the Cheesebridge upper-crust. His wildest ambition is to share the cheese in Portly-Rind's tasting-room, regardless of the fact that cheese does unspeakable things to his body.Meanwhile, Portly-Rind has a daughter, Winnie, who is frustrated by the lack of attention she receives from her dad. So, she acts out in certain ways, and has developed a rather morbid fixation on the boxtrolls and the horror she thinks they represent.The story involves Eggs' efforts to locate Fish -- the troll who has become his surrogate father -- after Fish is abducted by Snatcher's goons. This journey leads Eggs to cross paths with Winnie, who is fascinated by his familiarity with boxtrolls, and who essentially ends up teaming-up with him.The story is quirky and funny, and younger children might find it a little scary, but its scariness is of the sort that children often delight in, portrayed with glee and a ghoulish sense of fun, and never with a cynical or mean-spirited sensibility.My favorite bits of the film involved two of Snatcher's goons, Mr. Pickles and Mr. Trout, who are under the impression that they're the "good guys" in the battle against the boxtrolls."Do you think these boxtrolls understand the duality of good and evil, Mr. Trout?" asks Mr. Pickles as he and his cohorts close-in on a cowering boxtroll in an alleyway."I suppose so," replies Mr. Trout. "They know we're the good guys. That's why they run from us."This amusing and unexpected semi-philosophical banter continues throughout the film, as the two men begin to suspect that perhaps they're not playing on the team they want to be playing on.These asides are kind of brilliant, and refreshing to hear in an animated feature. And it's hard to argue with the film's theme of acceptance, as the citizens of Cheesebridge gradually learn that they have nothing to fear from the boxtrolls. There's another theme, too, wrapped-up in how Archibald Snatcher is revealed to be the film's true villain; it's about how self-interested people can prey on popular ignorance, dividing us out of fear, to serve their own ends.It's fairly heady material for a kids' film, sure. But kids will be entertained by the action-packed adventure elements, and the various funny gross-out moments (like Eggs and the boxtrolls feasting on bugs). The fact that those kid-friendly elements are wrapped-up in a story as smart and original as this is quite special.One more note: If you do watch this film, be sure to stick around during the ending credits. There's a scene involving Mr. Pickles and Mr. Trout about halfway through the credits, which reveals the labor- intensive animation process. It's kind of breathtaking, and rather profound.

Yet another great film! The Boxtrolls is a wonderfully created movie with the perfect script. The graphics are of great quality, and the voices by all of the wonderful cast fit their character just right. I really liked this movie and the story was very thorough, and not offset or weak like most of this style. The Boxtrolls themselves had their unique look and the boxes which were their names just said it all for me. Great concept and all together a perfectly rounded movie.The Boxtrolls did have that feel of Corpse Bride as it began, which actually made it more comfortable for me to settle into. That late night knock at the door, that suspicious look, wow it was just great to watch. I highly recommend checking out this movie, one of the most parts I enjoyed is that this film is good per all ages. Great Job!

The movie/story itself is decent but full of clichés. It's nothing that will really surprise you, but it might move you a bit. Some will like the kind of "animation" that is used here, other will dismiss it. Maybe you should watch the trailer, just so you know what you are up for (so you're not surprised).The message of the movie is pretty clear and the movie while aimed at the small ones, will have a couple of things to keep the adults interested. Something Pixar does to perfection but is nicely handled here too. Some things may seem a bit bleak and dark, but the overall tone is nicely handled. Everybody needs love ...