The Boxtrolls
Focus Features | Release Date: September 26, 2014 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
61
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 37 Critic Reviews
Positive:
20
Mixed:
14
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
HitfixCatherine BrayAug 31, 2014
I can't remember the last time I saw a family animation so visually rich, tightly scripted and charmingly performed which was also built on a sound and progressive message. Read full review
91
Charlotte ObserverLawrence ToppmanSep 25, 2014
It’s the rare animated film that might amuse adults and kids while slipping a useful message to the latter. Read full review
91
The PlaylistDrew TaylorSep 25, 2014
The Boxtrolls charms, in every way it can – with its gorgeous animation style that combines lo-fi with high-tech (the puppets were printed using 3D printers), with the huggable nature of the characters, and with the boldness of its storytelling and thematic concerns. Read full review
90
Village VoiceAmy NicholsonSep 23, 2014
The Boxtrolls is a kiddie charmer that makes you laugh, cower, and think of Hitler. That’s an unusual trifecta, but then again, this is an unusual film. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comSheila O'MalleySep 26, 2014
It's gloriously inventive, wonderfully funny, and gorgeous to look at, the screen filled with sometimes overwhelming detail. Read full review
88
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreSep 24, 2014
Start to finish, it’s a delight. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd Sep 24, 2014
In an age when most cartoon companies have traded pens for pixels, the magicians at Laika continue to create fantastically elaborate universes out of pure elbow grease. Read full review
80
The TelegraphAnna SmithSep 26, 2014
While the plot is straightforward, characters are well-drawn, many defined by ironic delusions. Read full review
80
TimeRichard CorlissSep 25, 2014
The movie has its political-parable aspect, with malevolent forces convincing both the 1% and the 99% that they have reasons to fear the other. But The Boxtrolls is mainly a delight for the sharp eye and the capricious mind. Read full review
80
The New York TimesA.O. ScottSep 25, 2014
While The Boxtrolls does follow kiddie-action genre conventions in its big, noisy climax — a hectic brawl of explosions, collisions and oversize machines — it also finds an impressive number of quiet, eccentric and haunting moments along the way. Read full review
80
The DissolveTasha RobinsonSep 25, 2014
Boxtrolls’ world is fantastically detailed and physical, with every frame crammed with complicated machinery, hand-painted textures and handcrafted props, and a sense of vast and focused attention. Read full review
80
EmpireStaff [Not Credited]Sep 7, 2014
There’s slapstick and silliness to entertain small children and nefarious plots for the adult audience to untangle, making this a far more handsome prospect than any of its characters could imagine. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesMary HoulihanSep 27, 2014
The Boxtrolls has a rich, edgy texture that makes it stand out from other animated films. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliSep 26, 2014
With top-notch animation, effective voice casting, and a screenplay that falters only toward the end when faced with the need to provide a resolution, The Boxtrolls offers solid entertainment for older children and the parents that accompany them. Read full review
75
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanSep 25, 2014
The story of The Boxtrolls, in lesser hands, might have turned out only so-so. Under Laika’s loving, labor-intensive touch, it takes on a kind of magic. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)John SemleySep 25, 2014
It’s a felt, funny, bracingly sincere kids’ movie. And even more refreshing, it takes as a theme our social fixation with waste, salvage and repackaging. Read full review
75
USA TodayBrian TruittSep 25, 2014
The Boxtrolls hold their own on screen, too, and children will fall in love with the creatures' mischievous antics, gurgling language and tendency to use their boxes as both a disguise and a portable bedroom. Read full review
67
Portland OregonianJeff BakerSep 25, 2014
The characters aren't clever or cool enough to command attention in the visually busy world the Laika animators have created, and the story starts abruptly and ends in a very familiar place. It's hard to believe so much talent went into making The Boxtrolls without a better script to support it. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyJoe McGovernSep 24, 2014
The script lacks the wit of "Wallace & Gromit." Read full review
63
Boston GlobeEthan GilsdorfSep 25, 2014
We never know them as characters, particularly father figure Fish, because screenwriters Irena Brignull and Adam Pava have them speak an un-translated, Jawa-Gollum gibberish, not English. Read full review
60
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottSep 26, 2014
Boxtrolls stands reasonably well on its own, as a cool steampunk fairy-tale that serves as yet another testament to the artistry of the folks at Laika. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeySep 25, 2014
You can see the years of effort, the polish and precision that went into creating The Boxtrolls... But somehow it still doesn't add up to enough. Read full review
60
The GuardianMike McCahillSep 22, 2014
Set it against the shiny blandishments that have passed for family fun this season, and it starts to look vaguely radical. Read full review
60
Time Out LondonTom HuddlestonSep 9, 2014
Breathlessly paced and surreally funny, ‘The Boxtrolls’ fizzes with visual invention and wild slapstick. But the grotesquerie is overbearing. Read full review
58
Film.comJames RocchiSep 24, 2014
The Boxtrolls is a swing-and-miss for Laika; when you move forward with revolutionary techniques while standing still in terms of your themes, stories and settings, no amount of technical trickery or animation genius can bring the boring to vivid life. Read full review
50
SlateDana StevensDec 15, 2014
What ultimately brings down The Boxtrolls isn’t the film’s willingness to wade into grimmer, more gruesome waters than your average kids’ animated adventure. It’s the failure to anchor its often misanthropic story in a character or relationship strong enough to offer a glimpse of redemption—a place of respite in an ugly, cheese-obsessed world. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsSep 27, 2014
The Boxtrolls remains relentlessly busy up through its final credits, and it's clever in a nattering way. But it's virtually charmless. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleSep 25, 2014
In many ways a beautiful movie, and yet in other ways it’s not very good at all. As an achievement in stop-motion animation, it’s stunning — seamless and detailed, so perfectly done that it’s easy to forget that you’re witnessing skill and not magic. Read full review
50
New York PostKyle SmithSep 24, 2014
Engaging as it is to look at, this stop-motion animation film from the young Oregon studio Laika seems to have been masterminded by people thinking, “Everyone loves Pixar. So let’s do everything the opposite!” Admirably contrarian. Like being cast overboard and calling out for an anvil. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineChris CabinSep 24, 2014
The flippancy toward the story's thematic concerns and character construction suggests that the film, like the boxtrolls' myriad gadgets and inventions, was largely built from used parts. Read full review
50
VarietyPeter DebrugeAug 31, 2014
The meticulously crafted world is stunning to behold, imagined to the minutest detail and photographed with the sort of dramatic lighting and dynamic camera movement rarely seen in stop-motion. Trouble is, it’s not a place most folks would care to spend any time. Read full review
40
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzSep 25, 2014
Enchantment is an essential ingredient of an animated film, particularly one that skirts dark edges. The Boxtrolls doesn't have nearly enough of it. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierSep 25, 2014
Kids who get a kick out of the macabre will enjoy this exquisitely crafted but tedious film. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyAug 31, 2014
There’s a crucial shortage of heart here, from the messy storytelling to the hit-or-miss humor and unattractive visuals. Read full review
32
TheWrapAlonso DuraldeAug 31, 2014
Lacking appealing characters (or character design), this misfire will, with any luck, eventually become a forgotten footnote among the output of a production company that has, up until now, shown real promise at making films that defy the usual tropes and storytelling mechanisms in contemporary family-friendly animation. Read full review
25
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallSep 26, 2014
The Boxtrolls is a visually repellent pile of stop-motion animation, populated by grotesques and filmed in the palette of an exhumed casket's interior. It can frighten small children and bore anyone, with its cracked, cackled British wit. Read full review
20
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovSep 24, 2014
The Boxtrolls feels rough-and-tumble and not as much fun by half. Read full review
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