If anything, I would describe this piece of the fantastic Laika Entertainment's work as "Roald Dahl, but with more unpleasantness than whimsy". It has all the hallmarks of a Dahl book (more than the source material). There's a vile adult villain and a stupid parent, unusual and twisted surreal elements, and an innocent child hero and loving parent. But I feel the film is more uncomfortable and nasty in places without any proper enchantment to balance it out. The trolls themselves are sort of cute and their lair is mildly interesting, but there isn't any real magic in the story to lift up the viewer in wonder. Instead, we get genuinely distressing scenes involving a horrific allergy, and some failure in even the kindest adult figures in the film, which makes for a slightly off-putting experience.
The animation is good, but mostly impressive in subtleties than grand showstoppers like Coraline, ParaNorman, or later, Kubo. I do love that no two Laika films have the same art style, and this one is rich and detailed, allowing for elegance and darkness with grotesque elements.
The sidekick and villain are also interesting. Winnie becomes the friend of Eggs, the boxtroll-adopted hero, and she is a nice strong character with quirks and struggles. Archibald Snatcher, despite the typical Dahl-esque villain trappings, is somewhat pathetic and sad in his own right, which I like.
But the story doesn't feel too inspiring and I think there is less to be enchanted by in comparison to the weird stuff. It'll probably have its audience, but Laika has done much better with all of its other films.
Probably going to be a cult classic, but it's not a masterpiece.
If anything, I would describe this piece of the fantastic Laika Entertainment's work as "Roald Dahl, but with more unpleasantness than whimsy". It has all the hallmarks of a Dahl book (more than the source material). There's a vile adult villain and a stupid parent, unusual and twisted surreal elements, and an innocent child hero and loving parent. But I feel the film is more uncomfortable and nasty in places without any proper enchantment to balance it out. The trolls themselves are sort of cute and their lair is mildly interesting, but there isn't any real magic in the story to lift up the viewer in wonder. Instead, we get genuinely distressing scenes involving a horrific allergy, and some failure in even the kindest adult figures in the film, which makes for a slightly off-putting experience.
The animation is good, but mostly impressive in subtleties than grand showstoppers like Coraline, ParaNorman, or later, Kubo. I do love that no two Laika films have the same art style, and this one is rich and detailed, allowing for elegance and darkness with grotesque elements.
The sidekick and villain are also interesting. Winnie becomes the friend of Eggs, the boxtroll-adopted hero, and she is a nice strong character with quirks and struggles. Archibald Snatcher, despite the typical Dahl-esque villain trappings, is somewhat pathetic and sad in his own right, which I like.
But the story doesn't feel too inspiring and I think there is less to be enchanted by in comparison to the weird stuff. It'll probably have its audience, but Laika has done much better with all of its other films.