The Boxtrolls - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

The Boxtrolls



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras: :
Final Score:


​

Movie
It looks like Shout Factory has gotten ahold of not only the Studio Ghibli contract, but also Laika studios as well, who is most notably known for their digitally created claymation style of animation and is releasing 4 of them in short order (Coraline and The Boxtrolls this week, and several more in a few weeks). All given brand new masters and extras for their debut on Shout Factory's lineup, and all in solid combo packs.

I remember watching the trailer for The Boxtrolls and being delighted that the old Claymation style of animation (even though it’s really not ACTUAL Claymation, but rather digitally created) hasn’t gone the way of the buffalo and that Universal studios keeps greenlighting these flicks. “Paranorman” was decent fun, and “Coraline” was a stunner, but “The Boxtrolls” had a decidedly much more kiddy feel to it vs. the other two mentioned. After watching I have to say that I really enjoyed this one almost as much as I did “Coraline”, even though it is drastically less dark and macabre than that one. “The Boxtrolls” is surprisingly cute and refreshing with just a hint of darkness and plenty of tongue in cheek humor about villains vs. heroes, and even a few potshots at the movie itself.

Underneath the city of Cheesebridge lives a group of little trolls who live in boxes, dubbed (ironically enough), Boxtrolls. This tale is about a young boy who was taken 10 years ago to live amongst the Boxtrolls underneath the city. The uptight city folk are terrified of the boxtrolls, convinced that they eat young children and are basically the boogeyman and Dracula all rolled into one. One Archibald Snatcher (Ben Kingsley) is your mustache twirling villain of the series, a sleazy man who wants nothing more than to be given a “white hat” by the aristocracy of the city (basically becoming one of the elite) and will stop at nothing to achieve his goal. Striking a goal with Lord Portly Rind (Jared Harris), he is promised a white hat if he can wipe out the entire Boxtroll population. Try her certainly does, tracking down the boxtrolls one by one as they come out at night to pillage and steal from the trash.

Little does the town know that the boxtrolls are actually a kind and innocent race of beings, who just like to collect nick knacks and build with them in their lair. The only one who actually knows their secret is the young boy, Eggs (Isaac Wright), the young boy that actually lives with them. Seeing his friends taken one by one, and their numbers dwindling, Eggs must go back to the surface and team up with Lord Portly Rind’s daughter, Winnie (Elle Fanning) to try and change the mind of her father. When that doesn’t work, Eggs has to wage a rescue attempt in order to free his friends from the clutches of the dastardly Mr. Snatcher and his gang of goons (voiced by Nick Frost, Tracy Morgan and Richard Ayoade).

I was gleefully giggling throughout the entire movie as The Boxtrolls turned out to be one of the better animated films that Laika has put out in a long time. It carries some of the same tones as Coraline and Paranorman, but softens them and creates a very unique texture here. The movie has tons of tongue in cheek humor, aimed directly at the movie itself. Playing off of the dichotomy of hero and perceived hero, villain and perceived villain, it dances around the subject and winks very obviously at the viewer while comparing Archibald Snatcher and the Boxtrolls. Snatcher is obviously a villain to the audience, but not exactly to the overly snobby elite with their head stuck in the clouds tasting fancy cheese. We all know the outcome of the film, but the little winks at nods at how many times we perceive things differently than they really are, and the attention we pay to things that are really ludicrous in nature while real evil goes on under our very noses is delightfully true (and sometimes a bit sobering. The humor is mostly childlike, but there are a few mild crudities that are aimed at adults (and actually rather witty I might add, instead of being juvenile). There is just the lightest touch of darkness, as there is intimations of death and destruction, but it’s never up to the creepy factor that “Coraline” or “The Nightmare Before Christmas” achieved. Instead it keeps it at a very mild PG level.

Made for both children and adults, The Boxtrolls manages to bring family entertainment back to the good old days of Claymation animation and witty humor that will appeal to people of all ages. I had a blast watching the movie and loved the originality of the movie. I didn’t realize before watching, but “The Boxtrolls” is actually based on a book by Alan Snow titles “Here be Monsters!”, and it really makes me want to check out the book just to see how faithful the adaptation is. Even if they pull a Roald Dahl on us, I have to say that the end result on film is quite a lot of fun and a worthy addition to any animated fans collection.




Rating:

Rated PG for action, some peril and mild rude humor




Video:

Shout Factory supposedly put out a new master for The Boxtrolls, but you'd be hard press to see the need. 2014's Universal release of the film was about as perfect as you could get for the film, and while this one tweaks a few things and edges out that old disc, it only does so by matter of sliver thin degrees. The animated version of Claymation looks fantastic on Blu-ray disc. The image is razor sharp, as every line is cleanly animated and devoid of any technical limitations or flaws. The color palette leans towards a pastel tone, but that is broken up by some very rich primary colors sprinkled in among the lighter tones as a beautiful contrast. If you look there is a few teensy tiny instances of noise, but otherwise the image is crystal clear and filled with stunning detail. The Claymation style animation isn’t as intricate as some others I have seen, but the lines that are drawn are perfect as can be. Black levels are spot on perfect and show every bit of detail that the animators intended, from the deep shadowy cavern under the city to the night streets of Cheesebridge itself. I noticed that minor little things like black levels in the background of the troll cave, or slight (very slight) tweaks to the colors made it any different than the incredible Universal release. Simply put, it's a great encode and Shout did incredibly well, it's just that there's not much ability to make it any more perfect than the 2014 release, even with a remaster.






Audio:

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA lossless track fares just about as well as the video does, with an excellent representation of the theatrical experience. The film is teeming with life, showing off all 6 channels with equal aplomb. The dialogue is locked up front, but carries some nice panning effects along the front three speakers, especially during the underground sequences as you heave Eggs voice echo off the walls and shift directions at times. The more active moments features some great use of the surround channels as Snatcher and crew battle it out over the boxtrolls fate and during the end battle sequence as well. While there is a lot of dialogue to keep the mains busy, the musical score that dances throughout the movie lights up those back channels when the action is died down and keeps them piping hot for you. LFE is present and is tight and punch when called upon. The walls vibrated a nice bit when Snatcher fires up his infernal machine for the first time and each billow from the fiery gut rumbled in my chest. Excellent from beginning to end. Comparing both the Universal release and this one has me guesstimating that Shout Factory simply repackaged the Universal 5.1 DTS-HD MA track, and that's not a bad thing. It was near reference back in 2014 and still incredible today.









Extras:

• NEW Never-Before-Seen The Boxtrolls Animation Test Footage
• NEW "Inside LAIKA' Featurette
• NEW Feature-Length Storyboards
• NEW Foreword by Ramin Zahed, the Editor in Chief of Animation Magazine
• Audio Commentary with Directors Graham Annable and Anthony Stacchi
• The Making of The Boxtrolls
• Original Featurettes

Final Score: ​

The Boxtrollsl is a refreshing animated film that colors itself rather unique in regards to modern animated films. It keeps itself childlike without becoming childish, and it keeps enough adult humor in there without becoming too crude and vulgar. The use of old fashioned Claymation blended with modern CGI gives it a beautifully retro, yet modern look that should please fans to no end. The tech specs on this disc are just about flawless and the new extras make it a more filled out package. About the only thing "missing" from the previous release would be the 3D presentation, and that's pretty much a dead format at this stage. If you're looking at UPGRADING your old Universal Blu-ray disc, then I'd hesitate. There are new extras and new special edition packaging with new artwork, but that's about it. The audio is identical and the video (new remaster and all) is so similar to the old Blu-ray that it's hard to really say that it's that much BETTER. However, if you haven't got the disc, then this is the superior package for sure, and if you've not seen it. Definitely watch it.


Technical Specifications:


Starring: Ben Kingsley, Jared Harris, Nick Frost, Tracy Morgan
Directed by: Anthony Stacchi, Graham Annable
Written by: Irena Brignull, Adam Pava
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, French, Spanish DD 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Studio: Shout Factory
Rated: PG
Runtime: 97 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: August 31st 2021

Recommendation: Fun Watch

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. I agree, this is a great film to see. Good for the whole family.