Review of The Boxtrolls (2014) by James D — 02 Oct 2014

6/10 Boxtrolls isn't in anyway up-to-par with the other amazing animated offerings we have had this year, nor it is a an above average animated feature, but it definitely comes off as recommendable and certainly watchable.

Out of the three acts of this movie there is no denying that the first one is the best. It's very nostalgic and pulls succedigly a lot on the heartstrings. Moreover it offers some sweet, eye-popping animation and lays the ground for the story to come in an interesting manner. Unfortunately its following two acts fail to recreate the magic of the first, but still have their advantages. By 2014 I have come to expect some very good laughs from American blockbuster animated cinema and I have come to expect them frequently through the movie. Boxtrolls does not offer that portion of laughs, yet it does have its jokes and its funny moments. Unfortunately even these moments come to be ruined by the end of the second act because all of the beats are repeated again and again until they become annoying. Still on the positive side we have gorgeous animation with amazing character design that will certainly get you through the movie without ever being totally bored. There is also an emotional core of the movie that had me occasionally feeling for the characters, but ultimately left me a little dry. Where the movie really lost me was in its execution of the second and third act. They are very predictable and have nothing interesting or surprising going on. The third act dragged a lot and could have been definitely cut.

This animated movie is a step down from the excellence of this year, but it is in no way a disaster or a bad movie, I would just recommend skipping it in the theaters and watching it at home if you really wanted to.