The Boxtrolls [based on the book] by dir. by ,

8 September 2014


Genre: ,
Script: ,
Cast: , , , , , ,
Rated :

The town of Cheesebridge lives in fear of the Boxtrolls. A curfew is in force, everything must be locked up at night, children especially must be kept indoors. The town remembers the day the Mr Trubshaw left his child unattended and the Boxtrolls stole and ate him. Every year Ms. Frou Frou re-enacts, in song and dance, that terrible night. And ever since Archibald Snatcher has been working hard to eradicate the monsters. Once they are gone he has been promised a white hat! White hats are worn by the lords of the town, they, in their cheese-tasting sessions, decide the fate of the town and its money.

Of course we learn pretty quickly that the Boxtrolls are not those monsters; they do not eat children nor live among mountains of bone and rivers of blood.

The film is animated by the makers of Coraline and Paranorman. I haven’t seen Paranorman but I loved Coraline, I wouldn’t say that this looks the same, but it has somewhat of a similar feel to it. It is stop-motion animation but I’d guess with some cg blending and merging.

And it is just plain wonderful.

Sure, you’ll know what is going to happen, storywise, but the manner of the telling is just so adorable and wonderful that you won’t mind that the plot is predictable.

I loved the character of Eggs. I loved the way the Boxtrolls got their names. I loved Winnie and her relationship with her father. I loved the evil Snatcher. I loved it all.

On one level it is just a family film; funny and entertaining. But on another level it is all about what families are, about ignorance and prejudice and not believing something just because that’s what you’ve been told. I think it was one of my favourite films of the year.

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