Starring: Ben Kingsley, Jared Harris, Nick Frost, Richard Auoade, Tracy Morgan, Steve Blumt, Isaac Hempstead Wright, Elle Fanning, Toni Collette, Simon Pegg.
Distributor: Roadshow Films
Runtime: 97 mins. Reviewed in Sep 2014
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Usually animation films, especially from Hollywood, and in the Disney tradition, are bright and colourful, even if they have sinister aspects, especially evil witches. But there is another tradition, dark and sinister stories with monstrous characters, thinking of Frankenweenie. There was also Coraline and Paranorman. These were definitely dark and relied on more sinister traditions, especially from monsters and horror films. And these two were made by an Oregon-based animation company, Laika.
Boxtrolls is a Laika film. With the word Trolls in the title, and memories of Nordic monsters, we might expect a very dark animation story – and that is what we get.
The film is based on a children’s novel, Here be Monsters. With the film’s title, we know who the monsters are – or are they?
Who are these trolls? They are small, human-enough-looking characters who are clad in cardboard boxes. Hence the name. They come out at night, scour the garbage tins and scavenge for anything that they can find and bring it back to their home, in a basement, underground. There are in process of making a giant machine – but we’re not sure of the purpose.
And where do they operate? In a lavishly drawn town which may be English but certainly looks as if it comes from the continent. In fact, everyone has a British accent so that gives it a particular tone and flavour, rather than American. The trolls are not particularly in favour in the town and there is a squad set up to find them and destroy them, led by rather gross looking character appropriately called Snatcher. He has a couple of assistants, also caricature-looking but two of them will make good towards the end, the other not and, definitely, Snatcher not. Scratcher and co are the monsters.
The townspeople are very afraid of the trolls, not understanding them at all, and made even more fearful because of the story of the abduction of a little boy, the Trubshaw boy. This story is circulated and even re-enacted in the marketplace by a bizarre singer.
A little boy was taken. We see him as a baby with the trolls. Then he grows up, is curious about the world outside, removes a manhole in the street and emerges but is pushed and shoved by all the citizens. He sees the re-enactment of the taking of the Trubshaw boy and realises that it is he.
The rather wilful daughter of the Lord and Lady of the town volunteers to act in the story, sees the boy, whose name is Eggs, because of the box which he uses for his clothes, something the other trolls do. Eggs goes back to the trolls but realises that Snatcher is getting closer. Snatcher is being driven by jealous motivation, that he will be able to wear the tall White Hat that the Lord wears can be a power in the town. He almost gets there, but the ceremony is interrupted by the trolls who had been hidden in a dungeon (where we discover Mr Trubshaw hanging from his heels and rather demented). Snatcher thinks he has crushed all the boxes and got rid of the trolls – but they are still a step ahead of him.
One of the important products of the town is cheese and the Lord is very upset with the stealing of his cheese. There is a finale, Snatcher doing a cheese-tasting with explosive results!
The animation is very distinctive for the elaborate layouts of the town, the underground basement, the machines as well as a lot of effort going into the very detailed design of the trolls and the humans. The voice cast is considerable with Isaac Hempstead Wright as Eggs, a sinister Ben Kingsley as Snatcher, and quite a number of British comedians, Nick Frost, Richard Ayoade, Simon Pegg, as well as Toni Collette bringing good quality to the voice performances.
Having said all this, I wonder who the film is really for. Enterprising and energetic youngsters who have a taste for monsters? Surely? Impressionable children, probably not. For adults? Yes and “intriguing”. So one of those animation stories which parents need to check out because of the themes and the scares.
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