The Boxtrolls

I watched this the first day it was out on digital release, having sadly missed it in the theatres. I had a terrible cold, but was so excited... I watched it even though I nearly passed out a few times. Needless to say, I was slightly underwhelmed, being a Laika fan that had hyped up the film in my head prior to viewing. I tottered off to bed without a word to my boyfriend, who I always force to watch these sorts of movies. He doesn't get romantic comedies, he gets digital animation, anime, stop motion, etc. I don't think that is such a rough deal, personally!So, the next day, I thought about it and realized I hadn't felt like the story was quite as magical as Coraline or ParaNorman. I hadn't felt as close to the main characters as I had to Coraline and to Norman, or even the side characters. I decided to watch it again.I really don't know what changed, perhaps besides me not being so ill or in a medicated stupor, but on the second viewing I was struck by all the little subtle nuances. I noticed more little details. I felt closer to the main character "Eggs" - and less irritated with the previously viewed-as-snotty girl character "Winnie". And the BoxTrolls themselves, though perhaps a touch less individually developed than the side characters in Coraline or ParaNorman, were a lot more personable to me on second viewing. They gave off that "you don't have to even talk to be endearing" Wall-E vibe. And I adore Wall-E!Anyway. I was so much happier on second viewing that I rewatched the film again right then and there. And I have watched it a couple times since then, too. Just like Coraline and ParaNorman, The BoxTrolls offers an experience for children (and large, aged children!) which doesn't paint everything black and white, but instead seems to ask the viewer to consider the good, the ugly and the gray areas in life - sometimes with a serious tone, at other times with humor, but always with great wit.Excellent children's film, and excellent film in general. As always the artistic side and the amount of work that goes into Laika's films (and of course any animation or stop-motion animation film) just leaves me in awe... as you will see in the fun little bit with the former henchmen at the end of the flick.Hope you enjoy this one! :-)

Steampunkalicious surprise: BOXTROLLS is fine art and marvelous acting, plus pretty damned important stuff our world needs to examine... masquerading as a kid's film!Kid-appropriate for all ages. No doubt that part of this film's appeal was carefully engineered for success. But it's the visuals that kept me watching, such perfectly realized and visually delightful worlds that I watched it twice. OK, and Ben Kingsley as the prime evil entrepreneur with his trio of exceptionally thoughtful henchmen, took this film fable beyond anything I've seen animated since Tim Burton's NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS. But that is definitely more for an ado-adult audience.ALERT: You'll never look at the cheese plate at your next foodie party the same way. DO NOT PASS THE BRIE, PLEASE.Here's my shoutout to the great actors who voice the trolls, and the creators of the Box Troll dialect, who also deserve particular praise.We live in a world where it's now crucial that even young kids start learning how greed and social control can be used to target cultural differences, and how the short path from that deadly combo leads to the worst things human beings do to each other. We need this movie to show kids this truth early on, because it keeps happening, and kids keep getting bombed...or strapping on bombs because this short path is really profitable for those who exploit religious and ethnic differences. It happens over and over again.By the end of BOXTROLLS, I realized, largely through the hilarious villainy of Ben Kingsley's character, I'd also been shown in a non-preachy, incredibly funny way, just how privatization gone wild destroys local culture and local identity, until there's not much left for *the rest of us* to choose from, or call on for our protection. We see the ongoing inaction of *the rest of us* never fails to delivers all the power to...the wrongo guys.Without getting terribly gorey and never bogging down in puritanical preachiness [like those disgusting Veggie Tales], this movie shows how and what it takes to first, villainize the innocent, and then seamlessly roll out the machinery of, well, ethnic cleansing and holocaust.Two deeply detailed little worlds, the cheezy vintage Middle Europeanesque above, where holding on to what passes for bling and celebrity blinds everyone to what's really going on, and the hidden, night realm of the resourceful, intensely creative, Box Troll folk who repurpose rusting Victorian junk into useful machines and folkart.I hope families will make watching this film together an annual ritual --and after my 2nd viewing, I'm convinced BOXTROLLS would be an important, rich addition to middleschool curriculum, as a fun but deep prequel to ANIMAL FARM.