THE BOXTROLLS (Graham Annable, Anthony Stacchi). 96 minutes. Opens Friday (September 26). For venues and times, see Movies. Rating: NNNN
The Boxtrolls are ghoulish-looking, sewer-dwelling creatures whose behaviour resembles that of both Toronto’s raccoons (they rummage through trash) and Despicable Me’s Minions (they mumble and build stuff). And, of course, they are the most adorable things in the latest stop-motion animation feature from Laika, the studio that both tickles and scares the shit out of kids with films like Coraline and ParaNorman.
The real monsters, the humans, live above ground in a fictional town resembling Versailles. The rulers spend everything on fine cheese, a running gag that never loses steam, while a ghastly social-climbing villain (voiced by Ben Kingsley) hopes to win their favour and some cheddar by exterminating the boxtrolls, who he claims are eating babies.
The boxtrolls do have a Mowgli-like human child among them, Eggs (Isaac Hempstead Wright), who leads the critters in their antic, occasionally frightening and consistently hilarious bid for survival.
This is a children’s movie that thinks very highly of its audience, with sly meta-gags, rich visuals and periodic sombre conversations about what constitutes evil. The film’s charm never wears thin. Make sure you stay through the credits.
