Hide yo kids, hide yo wife, and especially hide yo finest cheeses: “The Boxtrolls” is out today, bringing the titular lactose-loving trolls and their wildly askew hometown of Cheesebridge to life on the big screen.
The movie already has lots of positive buzz going, having gotten plenty of early attention for its charming animation and socially-progressive trailers. But now that it’s been let out of the box, what do critics have to say? Below, we round up some reviews.
Standing ovation for the animation.
“[It’s] a wonderful world, full of Rube Goldberg contraptions below and colorful Dickensian squalor and excess above.” — Stephen Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer
“Like much of the best animation, ‘The Boxtrolls’ is above all a marvel of craft. Just before the final credits, we catch a glimpse of the labor involved — a fast, funny riff on just how painstaking the work of creating a kinetic stop-motion universe can be. And yet it looks like child’s play.” — A.O. Scott, The New York Times
And big ups for the writing, too.
“The dialogue is snappy and witty, especially the unexpectedly shrewd observations of Mr. Pickles, and the animation throughout etched in lovingly uproarious detail.” — Bruce DeMara, The Toronto Star
Parental advisory: You might like it more than your kids.
“Though produced by an American animation studio, “The Boxtrolls” is about as British as movies get. Its humor is morbid, its characters grotesque, its story driven by themes of class. …Imaginative but very weird, more Monty Python than Walt Disney.” — Rafer Guzman, Newsday
What’s wrong with it? Nothing, basically.
“It’s a social commentary that never turns didactic; a heavy fable that’s light on its feet; an all-star animation where every actor is chosen for talent, not his or her name. The trolls — who, yes, wear boxes around their waists — remain babbling cuties on the order of “Despicable Me” minions, while even the villains are adorable — chiefly the head baddie voiced by Ben Kingsley: a lactose-intolerant social climber. The actor speaks in a sing-songy patter that clings to each vowel like butter on an artery lining, ensuring that “The Boxtrolls” is as much fun to listen to as it is to look at — which is to say, very.” — Matt Prigge, Metro
“The Boxtrolls” releases today, September 26, in theaters nationwide.
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