Review of The Boxtrolls (2014) by Xander K — 01 Feb 2015

A visual treat to be certain, and the story is creative and endearing, but both pacing and voice work are uneven enough, that it holds the film back from greatness. Don't misunderstand, the majority of the voice work is tremendous (Kingsley, Harris and Frost shine) but the two leads (Fanning and Hempstead-Wright) are about as false and forced as one might fear.

This only hurts the film more when it slugs along at a snail's pace, fatally placed after the film's best and most critical moments. I really did enjoy the film, but these two critical wounds make this third outing from the incredible Laika Animation Studio, quite good but far from great.