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The Boxtrolls

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The Boxtrolls

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Summary

Animated adventure featuring the voices of Elle Fanning, Isaac Hempstead-Wright and Ben Kingsley. A young orphan raised by quirky underground creatures joins them in a fight against an evil exterminator.

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IMDB

Review

A star rating of 3 out of 5.

Emma Simmonds

Those with a soft spot for chaotic critters will delight in this fun, aesthetically appealing adaptation of Alan Snow's illustrated novel Here Be Monsters!. Produced by the stop-motion animation studio behind ParaNorman and Coraline, the film is set in Cheesebridge, a towering town whose populace live in fear of the eponymous beasties. Isaac Hempstead-Wright provides the voice for the boy raised by these misunderstood nocturnal creatures, with Elle Fanning as the lonely girl he befriends. However, the young leads are a touch wan so it's up to the adult cast (including Richard Ayoade, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost) to get their teeth into their larger-than-life characters. Although the film suffers from a simplistic, sometimes rushed, plot, the right-on script scatters moral messages among the anarchy by taking a pop at wasteful aristocrats and the ruthlessly aspirational (epitomised by Ben Kingsley's dastardly troll-exterminator), while cheeringly championing the demonised little guys. Indeed, the blue-skinned, miscellaneously misshapen boxtrolls are a triumph of design and painstaking execution, with their glow-in-the-dark eyes providing ample wow factor.

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6.8/10

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Credits

Cast

rolenameWinnieElle FanningEggsIsaac Hempstead-WrightArchibald SnatcherBen KingsleyHerbert TrubshawSimon PeggLady Portley-RindToni ColletteMr TroutNick FrostLord Portley-RindJared HarrisMr PicklesRichard AyoadeMr GristleTracy MorganFish / Wheels / BucketDee Bradley Baker

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Crew

rolenameDirectorGraham AnnableDirectorAnthony Stacchi

Details

Theatrical distributor

Universal

Released on

2014-09-12

Languages

English

Available on

DVD and Blu-ray

Formats

Colour

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