The Boxtrolls

Based on the kids’ book, Here Be Monsters by Alan Snow, Sir Ben Kingsley provides the voice of the evil and obviously named Archibald Snatcher – a crude exterminator who wants to join the ranks of the rich and privileged in the small village of Cheesebridge.

When a young boy seemingly is kidnapped by the boxtrolls who live underground and only emerge in the dark of night (that’s not creepy at all!), Snatcher convinces the village’s leaders to grant him a coveted white hat, which would signal his desired ascension into the aristocracy and welcome him to their parties and cheese tastings. All he has to do is eliminate all of the vilified, hated boxtrolls.

Ten years later, Snatcher is making grand progress in his goal to exterminate the boxtrolls, but the young kidnapped boy, now named Eggs (voice by Isaac Hempstead Wright), is ready to expose the truth about the boxtrolls, who lovingly raised him and might have a little secret of their own.

The Boxtrolls is a charmless, disturbing movie with horrible storytelling, borderline repulsive characters, themes that will give young kids nightmares and a fascination with how the film looks over the movie’s substance.

Directors Graham Annable and Anthony Stacchi are enamored with the world they have created, which looks stunning, but, along with writers Irena Brignull and Adam Pava, confuse quirky and offbeat with entertaining. I want something off the beaten path as much as the next person, but The Boxtrolls is not an endearing movie. It’s so far off the beaten path, quirky becomes off-putting.

It’s too dark for most kids (and many adults) with constant talk about murder, extermination, bones and blood. The Boxtrolls themselves seem perfectly built to entertain kids with their naughty behavior and decent hearts, but this kind of talk and story comes off like a cruel trick on anyone looking for the next kid-friendly film, which is what you expect this to be. The Boxtrolls feel like the Minions’ evil twins.

The Boxtrolls gets off to a jarring start, has the audience struggling to figure out the plot and doesn’t know when to end.

It’s just ill-conceived from start to finish, and British accents can’t class it up enough.

The Boxtrolls is rated PG for action, some peril and mild rude humor.