Laika studios has started to make a
name for itself in the past few years, with stop-motion features like “Coraline” and “ParaNorman.” Both films upon release
have achieved critical acclaim, due to their great storytelling,
top-notch animation, and surprisingly good voice acting. With how
well the studio was doing, garnering two Academy Award nominations,
it got me hooked on their next project, “The Boxtrolls.”
“The Boxtrolls” tell the story of
a young boy, who is taken into the custody of sewer creatures, known
as boxtrolls, being raised as one of them. As the years go by,
exterminators have started to gather up any boxtroll that roams the
surface, and it's up to the boy, along with the mayor's daughter, to
put an end to the exterminator's reign of terror.
If you've heard about this film, you
would know that it has a great teaser trailer, which shows some of
the animators creating the different kinds of puppet figurines for
the film, kind of like a behind-the-scenes look at the film. It was a
pretty original trailer, and I was hoping the film would deliver the
same kind of originality that it looked to be promising...and boy,
was I disappointed. Don't get me wrong, I did like the film, just not as much as "ParaNorman" or "Coraline."
What doesn't settle in well with me were the cliches we have seen before countless times,
only they're much boring here. It's the typical fish out of water
tale we've seen before, only it doesn't do that much new with it. It goes in the direction
you think it's going to go, if you've seen them plenty of times,
making it not as suspenseful as you'd expect.
The villain in this film, played by
Ben Kingsley, is just a stock villain; he's Gargamel from “The
Smurfs,” only his motivation is just dull. Although, I will admit,
there is a funny side to his motivation, especially at the end...but
that's about it. His henchmen were also boring too, being the cliched
henchmen you've seen in almost every film that has these archetypes.
You know, the fat guy and skinny guy who are both thugs, as well as
the psychotically dumb third guy, who just wants to kill things to
please the boss and psychotic side? Those kinds.
Then there's the prejudice town, that
believes the lies the villain has been spreading, so when the hero
tries to reveal him they don't believe it, until the end when the
villain attacks...it got old. What pissed me off, however, was the
girl's father, the “supposed” mayor. He was just such a piece of
shit, that by the end I really didn't want him to be with his
daughter. I mean, I get what they're going for, but that's no excuse
for what they did with his character. Not only that, but we barely
get any interaction with the girl's mother, who hardly gets a line.
They might as well have cut her out of the film.
I will admit, I did buy the connection
between the kid and the two main boxtrolls that raise him. They do
show a caring compassion for one another, and seeing him grow up in
the same ways they did is pretty neat. It was also cute how they each
have their own names, simply from what image they have on their box,
like Fish, Shoe, Oil Can, Wheels, and the main kid named Eggs. The
girl, Winnie, was decent too, and she did
have an interesting psychotic side to her. Other than that, not much
else can be said about her.
If there's anything Laika gets right,
it's the animation of their works; while not as good as “Coraline”
or “ParaNorman,” it's still impressive stop-motion. With what
they showed in their teaser trailer, it shows that they were putting
a lot of effort into it, but I did notice hints of CGI in a few
spots, which did bug me a bit. The voice acting is pretty good as
well. Isaac Hempstead-Wright does a pretty good job at playing Eggs,
and Elle Fanning was alright as Winnie. Even if I didn't like his
character, Ben Kingsley voicing the villain was good sounding. What I
was pleased about was the boxtrolls being played by voice actors,
mostly from Dee Bradley Baker and Steve Blum as Fish and Shoes.
Sadly, it isn't enough.
Overall, “The Boxtrolls” was okay
for what it was, but could have been better. If you want to see this
film, maybe you'll enjoy it better than I did. I just hope that the
next film that Laika does will turn out to be much better.
Rating: 6/10
No comments:
Post a Comment