The Boxtrolls
Likeable latest from Laika
Release Date: OUT NOW! PG | 97 minutes Distributor: Universal Directors: Anthony Stacchi, Graham Annable Cast: Ben Kingsley, Isaac Hempstead- Wright, Elle Fanning, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost
Laika Entertainment – the team responsible for Coraline and Paranorman – is fast developing a reputation for stopmotion animated fare that’s funny and weird in equal measure. It’s a reputation that The Boxtrolls will further cement, offering up offbeat style with mad gags and just a hint of steampunk.
Our serviceable, if generic, hero is Eggs ( Game Of Thrones’s Isaac Hempstead- Wright) who was thought snatched years ago by the diabolical trolls that lurk beneath the twisty, lumpen streets of Cheesebridge. Turns out there’s more to it than that, and the lad has actually grown up in the care of the misunderstood creatures, who emerge at night to snatch items they can use in their subterranean lair.
Local exterminator and wannabe council elder Archibald Snatcher ( Ben Kingsley) has other ideas, though, hunting down the trolls in the hopes of impressing the locals and scoring an invite to the exclusive cheese- tasting sessions that come with local power. Kingsley’s character is the seething heart of the film, an agreeably boo- hiss villain in the mould of the Child Catcher or something from Henry Selick’s work. As though torn from the pages of Dickens, he stalks the screen with grimy panache, and even turns to cross- dressing to get his anti- Boxtrolls message across.
The critters themselves are part- Jawa, part- Gremlin creations and provide much- needed fun in a tale that’s perhaps lighter than previous Laika efforts but still has plenty to offer. James White
Ben Kingsley performed his entire voice duties for the film either lying or sitting down. Nice work if you can get it…