From the same brilliant studio who brought you Coraline and ParaNorman and all their stop motion glory, here's The Boxtrolls, which is based on a British novel by Alan Snow. And as far as storytelling in stop motion goes, this film holds up really well. It's strange, dark and goofy as something you'd expect from like a Tim Burton movie.
Here's the story. In 1803, London, everyone's living in fear because in the dead of night, mischievous creatures come out at night, known as the Boxtrolls. People think they're vicious little monsters who kill children, but in reality, they're actually shy creatures who search for junk to build their own inventions with them. It also turns out that they're raising a child, who they name Eggs. A pest exterminator, played by Ben Kingsley, vows to destroy all the Boxtrolls and as each night goes by, more and more Boxtrolls disappear, much to Eggs' dismay. One day, Eggs decides to surface on the streets of London and try to find his lost friends.
The story is very good and the narrative is pretty flowing. The stop motion is VERY good. Have the time I couldn't catch the pauses in between it's that good. The characters are very likable too. Eggs is a very likable character. He's curious, quirky and very delightful about the human world that he tries to interact in. A young girl, played by Elle Fanning is also likable. She can be a bit sassy, but has a good heart and has a fair amount of depth to her. The villain is also a lot of fun. There's just so much energy in him and he can be pretty diabolical, but at the same time, he provides a lot of laughs. One thing I really love about this flick is the first ten minutes. It has little dialog, but the animation tells most of the story while the rest is left up to the characters' expressions like Wall-E did in its first act. There's also several creepy looking imagery, which does balance the edge and lightness in it. One thing I really love about this movie is that I had NO idea where this movie was going to take me. There was one moment I thought it was going to be clichéd, but it didn't. Then I thought it was going to be another, but then it did something else. I really liked how it was unpredictable.
Is there anything I don't like? Well probably the pacing. The pacing is just a little too fast for me to begin with. But after a while, it calms down and goes normally, so honestly, that's kind of a nitpick.
So, overall, I think this is a wonderfully made movie with lots of visuals, good humor, good story, good characters. See it if you haven't already. You won't regret it.
Here's the story. In 1803, London, everyone's living in fear because in the dead of night, mischievous creatures come out at night, known as the Boxtrolls. People think they're vicious little monsters who kill children, but in reality, they're actually shy creatures who search for junk to build their own inventions with them. It also turns out that they're raising a child, who they name Eggs. A pest exterminator, played by Ben Kingsley, vows to destroy all the Boxtrolls and as each night goes by, more and more Boxtrolls disappear, much to Eggs' dismay. One day, Eggs decides to surface on the streets of London and try to find his lost friends.
The story is very good and the narrative is pretty flowing. The stop motion is VERY good. Have the time I couldn't catch the pauses in between it's that good. The characters are very likable too. Eggs is a very likable character. He's curious, quirky and very delightful about the human world that he tries to interact in. A young girl, played by Elle Fanning is also likable. She can be a bit sassy, but has a good heart and has a fair amount of depth to her. The villain is also a lot of fun. There's just so much energy in him and he can be pretty diabolical, but at the same time, he provides a lot of laughs. One thing I really love about this flick is the first ten minutes. It has little dialog, but the animation tells most of the story while the rest is left up to the characters' expressions like Wall-E did in its first act. There's also several creepy looking imagery, which does balance the edge and lightness in it. One thing I really love about this movie is that I had NO idea where this movie was going to take me. There was one moment I thought it was going to be clichéd, but it didn't. Then I thought it was going to be another, but then it did something else. I really liked how it was unpredictable.
Is there anything I don't like? Well probably the pacing. The pacing is just a little too fast for me to begin with. But after a while, it calms down and goes normally, so honestly, that's kind of a nitpick.
So, overall, I think this is a wonderfully made movie with lots of visuals, good humor, good story, good characters. See it if you haven't already. You won't regret it.