Los Boxtrolls

Wonderful stop-motion animation, great story, and acted very well. I don't understand the negative reviews, if you want Disney, go watch Disney. Darker stuff like this is amazing and we definitely don't get enough of it.

A good metaphor for the movie itself: if you can stomach it, it's a real delicacy, with plenty of interesting themes. The steam-punk early-modern Dutch city inhabited by well-meaning but persecuted trolls was a disquieting environment with multiple filthy (physically and morally) areas that Laika's unique animation explored in various engaging and surprising ways.

My 6-year-old son Sebastian loved it, mostly, I think, because it was disgusting and had plenty of gross jokes and scenes (like the naked trolls who take city hall at the end), but he also got a little tired of it, declaring : "I thought it's never going to end."

Sienna's Rating: 7 Stars Sebastian's Rating: 10 Stars!

Paul's Rating: 7 Stars.

This mix of stop-motion and CGI brings a fun, charming tale that appeals to all ages.

Set in the town of Cheesebridge (it's motto - a gouda place to live), the 'minion'-like creatures called boxtrolls have for years terrorised the habitants and are hunted by childcatcher-esque exterminator 'Archibald Snatcher', voiced by Sir Ben Kingsley, who has been promised a place in the town council if he's destroys every last one. The story is enjoyable, heartwarming and is really brought alive by the stop motion animation and topped by a plethora of famous British voices.

The themes are a little darker than explored in a lot of younger-aimed films, and there is a sense of adventure and danger that you don't see in the majority of animations. But this doesn't mean that it isn't entertaining. Those who are fond of the Despicable Me's minions, will love the Boxtrolls' actions and personalities, resulting in many lighthearted moments too.

For those that have seen creator Laika's other works - Coraline and Paranorman - you will enjoy this very much. They don't have as much of a fan base as the biggest stop motion Aardman - the visionaries behind Wallace & Gromit, but their quirkier, darker animations can appeal to a larger range of audiences. Here, with their third film, they have made really enjoyable film, entertaining from beginning to end. Be sure to stay at the end for a little credit sting showing how it was made.

For the potential viewers of this film, don't worry if you didn't read the book Here Be Monsters! first. The Boxtrolls movie stands on its own as an excellent story wrapped in visuals that pay homage to the craft of stop motion animation. It's funny, clever, gross, a bit cheeky, and a bit dark. Everything kids and many adults who accompany them or with others in the age group will enjoy. Whether it will be a classic or not, is hard to say.

The Boxtrolls are, well, basically trolls that have boxes they use as clothes and safety. They are a modest and timid sort. They are also industrious and like all kinds of gadgets. Since the story takes place around the time of the Industrial Revolution, there is no shortage of gears, crankshafts, bolts, wheels, or any manner of metal part they try to put to some other use. They also are good at babysitting. None more so than Fish and Shoe, the two de facto fathers of one young boy that goes by the name of Eggs (it should be noted that their names are the names of the boxes they wear).

Without getting into too much detail about the origins of their young charge, these three along with the other Boxtrolls have been labeled as kidnapping, baby eating, monsters by the fine townfolk of Cheesebridge. Led by the elite White Hats and their leader Lord Portly-Rind (Jared Harris) and the upwardly mobile Red Hat Archie Snatcher (Ben Kingsley), they have vowed to eradicate their hamlet of the Boxtroll vermin. The only thing more important than accomplishing this task is their love of all types of cheese. Some of the funniest and strangest scenes of the film is the discussions and consumption of cheese by the ruling class and the aforementioned Mr. Snatcher.

Besides a wonderful voice acting performance by Sir Kingsley, The Boxtrolls is full of great turns. Two of Mr. Snatch's henchmen Mr. Pickles and Mr. Trout, (Richard Ayoade and Nick Frost, respectively) offer up metaphysical and philosophical commentary musings about life and their career choices. On the other hand, the overzealous Mr. Gristle (Tracy Morgan) is a man of few words, rather letting his actions do the talking. Elle Fanning (Maleficent) and Isaac Hempstead Wright (Game Of Thrones) are a perfect match as Winnie, the daughter of Lord Portly-Rind and Eggs. She teaches him how to act in public, while he indulges her thirst for all things creepy and crawly.

The look of The Boxtrolls can be summed up in one word: amazing. Not in a super saturated color, larger than life way, but in a painstakingly meticulous, attention to detail way. Although the film is in 3d and might lose something when viewed on a smaller screen, the skill, reverence and affection the animation/modeling team poured into the sets and characters, along with top shelf screen writing and acting make this film one of the best animated features to come out in quite a while.

• See more at: www.mediumraretv.org

There are cute children's films - like "Frozen, the first movie to which I ever took my granddaughter (then just under three) - and then there is the more challenging kind - like "The Boxtrolls" to which I took her nine months later. We haven't read the source material, the novel "Here Be Monsters!" by Alan Snow, but she knows all about trolls from "Frozen" and other stories and these are very cleverly represented through stop- motion capture by the specialist production company Laika. But it's a little bit scary for young ones, so my granddaughter held on to my hand most of the film and sat on my lap for the final third.

For British adults of a certain age, the characters of the town of Cheesebridge look like people from a Gerald Scarfe cartoon and the subterranean habitat of the boxtrolls themselves is like a cross between the worlds of Heath Robinson and Hieronymus Bosch. The voices are very well-done and for me the best of comes from Ben Kingsley as a hard bad guy and Richard Ayoade as a soft bad guy. Stay for the credits when early on there is a little bit of existential angst on display from two of the stop motion characters.